| Sumario: | Aim: Overdiagnosis has become a major concern with the widespread use of screening tests, leading to unnecessary treatments and financial damage. However, the concept of overdiagnosis is difficult to convey to the public, and misinformation may be prevalent, especially through online platforms. This study aimed to analyze the news media and YouTube content related to overdiagnosis to determine the current state of misinformation and to provide a basis for controlling overdiagnosis-related information provision. Methods: News articles were collected from ten media outlets and three broadcast media, while YouTube videos (published in 2005–2022) with over a thousand views were selected using the keyword "geomjin" (health screening). LDA topic modeling was used to examine the news data, and the chi-square test was performed to analyze the differences in video content by source. Results: The analysis of 268 YouTube videos showed that more than 75% of the videos recommended necessary screening. However, recommendation of screening despite insufficient evidence was found in 43.3% of all videos and showed a particularly high rate among the videos published by individual medical professionals or medical institutions (p < 0.001). Among the videos promoting screenings, 38.8% also recommended screenings to age groups that are not shown to benefit from them. In the news articles, the topic with the highest proportion (29.2%) was the "necessity of extensive and comprehensive health screening." Conclusion: The prevalence of excessive recommendations by healthcare professionals through news and YouTube in Korea highlights the need for communicating accurate medical information and effective policies to prevent overdiagnosis.
|
|---|