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CTRI Number  CTRI/2024/02/063370 [Registered on: 29/02/2024] Trial Registered Prospectively
Last Modified On: 26/02/2024
Post Graduate Thesis  Yes 
Type of Trial  Observational 
Type of Study   Cross Sectional Study 
Study Design  Other 
Public Title of Study   Health Information Seeking Behaviour on YouTube: A COVID-19 Case Study 
Scientific Title of Study   Use of YouTube in Health Communication During the COVID-19 Pandemic in India 
Trial Acronym  NIL 
Secondary IDs if Any  
Secondary ID  Identifier 
NIL  NIL 
 
Details of Principal Investigator or overall Trial Coordinator (multi-center study)  
Name  Nisha Rani 
Designation  Junior Research Fellow 
Affiliation  Manipal Institute of Communication 
Address  Lecture Hall -11, Manipal Institute of Communication, Madhav Nagar, Eshwar Nagar, Manipal, Karnataka 576104

Udupi
KARNATAKA
576104
India 
Phone  8527525368  
Fax    
Email  nisha.rani2@learner.manipal.edu  
 
Details of Contact Person
Scientific Query  
Name  Dr Padma Rani 
Designation  Director and Professor  
Affiliation  Manipal Institute of Communication 
Address  Director Office, Manipal Institute of Communication, Madhav Nagar, Eshwar Nagar, Manipal, Karnataka 576104

Udupi
KARNATAKA
576104
India 
Phone  9686688116  
Fax    
Email  padma.rani@manipal.edu  
 
Details of Contact Person
Public Query  
Name  Dr Usha Manchanda Rodrigues 
Designation  Adjunct Professor  
Affiliation  Manipal Institute of Communication 
Address  Manipal Institute of Communication, Madhav Nagar, Eshwar Nagar, Manipal, Karnataka 576104

Udupi
KARNATAKA
576104
India 
Phone  9686688116  
Fax    
Email  umanchanda@yahoo.com.au  
 
Source of Monetary or Material Support  
University Grants Commission (UGC), Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110002 
 
Primary Sponsor  
Name  University Grants Commission (UGC) 
Address  University Grants Commission (UGC) Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi - 110002. 
Type of Sponsor  Other [Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India] 
 
Details of Secondary Sponsor  
Name  Address 
NIL  NIL 
 
Countries of Recruitment     India  
Sites of Study  
No of Sites = 1  
Name of Principal Investigator  Name of Site  Site Address  Phone/Fax/Email 
Dr Padma Rani  Manipal Institute of Communication  Room Number - LH 11, Department - Manipal Institute of Communication, MAHE
Udupi
KARNATAKA 		 9686688116

padma.rani@manipal.edu 
 
Details of Ethics Committee  
No of Ethics Committees= 1  
Name of Committee  Approval Status 
Kasturba Medical College and Kasturba Hospital Institutional Ethics Committee  Approved 
 
Regulatory Clearance Status from DCGI  
Status 
Not Applicable 
 
Health Condition / Problems Studied  
Health Type  Condition 
Healthy Human Volunteers  YouTube users who have watched COVID-19 information on the platform will be surveys and interviewed about the reliability of COVID-19 information on Youtube and their health decision making.  
 
Intervention / Comparator Agent  
Type  Name  Details 
Comparator Agent  Nil  Nil 
Intervention  Nil  Nil 
 
Inclusion Criteria  
Age From  18.00 Year(s)
Age To  80.00 Year(s)
Gender  Both 
Details  YouTube users from 5 Indian States – Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have been included in the study based on the Google Trends data. Coronavirus videos on YouTube were viewed the most in these top 5 states from Jan 2020 to Dec 2022.  
 
ExclusionCriteria 
Details   
 
Method of Generating Random Sequence    
Method of Concealment    
Blinding/Masking    
Primary Outcome  
Outcome  TimePoints 
The proposed study looks at how YouTube users used the COVID-19 information on the platform and what impact the content has on their health decision-making. The survey and interview responses can help understand the potential of social media platforms such as YouTube as a platform for dissemination of health information. The growing popularity of YouTube for health information and exposure to unregulated content on the platform is a big concern among health professionals and users. The data will provide insights into the health information seeking behavior of viewers and how the platform can be made more reliable for health information. The study will assist social media platform managements and government agencies to institute a system which will help consumers/users identify trustworthy sources of information available online and improve their health literacy and their decision-making process about their well-being.  The data collection will be completed by Dec 2024.  
 
Secondary Outcome  
Outcome  TimePoints 
"In the future, all emergencies and pandemics will be accompanied by infodemics that will be better addressed with the tools and insights developed today" (WHO, 2022). The WHO public health research agenda calls for measuring and monitoring the impact of infodemic in case of any health emergencies to develop an ethical framework for social listening and infodemic management. This study will use content analysis to examine the scientific nature of the COVID-19 content available on YouTube and surveys to evaluate how consumers/users dealt with the infodemic amid the global pandemic. The outcome and insights from this research will provide an Indian perspective to the WHO public health research agenda. This can be useful in creating better targeted health campaigns on the platform for easy and timely access to users.  The data collection will be completed by Dec 2024.  
 
Target Sample Size   Total Sample Size="1067"
Sample Size from India="1067" 
Final Enrollment numbers achieved (Total)= "Applicable only for Completed/Terminated trials"
Final Enrollment numbers achieved (India)="Applicable only for Completed/Terminated trials" 
Phase of Trial   N/A 
Date of First Enrollment (India)   07/03/2024 
Date of Study Completion (India) Applicable only for Completed/Terminated trials 
Date of First Enrollment (Global)  Date Missing 
Date of Study Completion (Global) Applicable only for Completed/Terminated trials 
Estimated Duration of Trial   Years="0"
Months="10"
Days="0" 
Recruitment Status of Trial (Global)   Not Applicable 
Recruitment Status of Trial (India)  Not Yet Recruiting 
Publication Details   N/A 
Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement

Will individual participant data (IPD) be shared publicly (including data dictionaries)?  

Response - NO
Brief Summary  

The study aims to understand the role of YouTube, as a social media platform, in disseminating health information. The research will use COVID-19 as a case study in India to examine to what extent consumption of health-related content on YouTube impacts viewers’ decision-making process concerning their health. 

1. To identify the source and type of COVID-19 information available in English and Hindi languages on YouTube and evaluate the quality of content shared in the videos.

2. To analyse user engagement towards COVID-19 videos on YouTube and explore its impact on health-related decision-making by users.

The study provides a comprehensive overview of COVID-19 related information on YouTube in India. Using a 360-degree approach, the study will look at what kind of health content is uploaded, by whom, how users use the information, and what impact the content has on their health decision-making. It has been observed that the growing popularity of YouTube for health information and exposure to unregulated content on the platform is a big concern among health professionals (Haslam et al., 2019).

This research will analyse YouTube content in both English and Hindi to better understand the content available to the Indian audience. The platform’s growth in India has been fuelled by regional content. YouTube operates in 10 Indian languages, and this research can provide a framework to investigate health content in other Indian languages and strengthen our health communication efforts. The lack of research on users’ consumption of online health information and its impact on their health decision- making is a major research gap that the study aims to target. India has the largest number of YouTube users in the world. It is important to document the role of this communication platform, and research its potential as a health communication tool, so that the largest community on YouTube can benefit from it.

 
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