Videos on rhabdomyosarcoma on YouTube: an example of the availability of information on pediatric tumors on the web

Video-sharing sites have become increasingly important in recent years in providing information and orienting people's decisions relating to their health. Adolescents and their families use internet to obtain information on pediatric oncological diseases. We describe the availability and type of video content and origin on YouTube relating to a particular set of pediatric neoplastic diseases, that is, rhabdomyosarcoma and soft-tissue sarcoma. A total of 149 videos were analyzed: 25 were considered as useful; only 1 video was produced by a doctor, whereas 82.5% were produced by patients or their families, in many cases for commemorating the death of a child. Our observations indicate that video-sharing sites have become tools, such as blogs and social media, that make it easier for patients to describe their impressions and experiences of the disease, and this could help other patients devise strategies for coping with the disease, providing them with support and opportunities for sharing information and resources.