Hülya Yılmaz BAŞER, Sema AYTEN
Eurasian Journal of Emergency Medicine - 2026;25(1):438-448
Aim: This study evaluated, from an emergency medicine perspective, the quality, reliability, and first-intervention content of YouTube videos on alcohol-related intoxication and poisoning. Materials and Methods: On October 1, 2023, YouTube was searched for "alcohol intoxication" and "alcohol poisoning." The first 50 eligible English-language videos were included in this cross-sectional study. Two experienced emergency medicine physicians jointly evaluated the videos and recorded consensus scores using DISCERN, the Global Quality score (GQS), and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria. Non-parametric tests were used for comparisons and correlations. Results: The videos had accumulated 21,254,061 views. Symptoms were described in 30 videos (60%), whereas first-intervention information was provided in 19 videos (38%). Rating data were available for 49 videos; the median (interquartile range) Dissemination of Information on Consumer Health (DISCERN), GQS, and JAMA scores were 27 (8), 3 (2), and 2 (1), respectively. Scores did not differ significantly among academic, personal/non-academic, and commercial sources (p=0.207, p=0.271, and p=0.923, respectively). Videos describing symptoms had higher DISCERN scores (adjusted p=0.002), whereas those providing first-intervention information had higher DISCERN and GQS scores (adjusted p<0.001 and p=0.003, respectively). DISCERN and GQS were strongly correlated (rho=0.820, Holm-adjusted p<0.001). Conclusion: YouTube videos on alcohol-related intoxication and poisoning frequently lack actionable emergency information. No statistically significant difference in quality scores was detected across uploader sources; however, the small and unequal group sizes preclude drawing conclusions of equivalence. Symptom content and first-intervention content were associated with higher quality scores. Public-facing videos should provide clear and timely guidance for seeking emergency medical assistance.
