Video reliability was assessed using two scoring systems: the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria scored from 0 to 4 ( Table 1) and a modified 5-point DISCERN tool. Content categories were grouped into: (1) exercise training, (2) disease-specific information, (3) patient experience, (4) surgical technique or approach, (5) non-surgical management, and (6) advertisement.
#YOUTUBE GRAPHPAD PRISM ANOVA PROFESSIONAL#
Video source was categorized into one of the following: (1) academic (pertaining to authors or uploaders affiliated with research groups, universities, or colleges), (2) physician (independent physician or physician group without research, university or college affiliation), (3) non-physician (health professional other than licensed medical doctors, including physical therapists), (4) fitness and health trainers (i.e., athletic trainers and strength coaches), (5) medical source (content or animators from health website), (6) patient, and (7) commercial. Video characteristics extracted for each video included: (1) video title, (2) duration, (3) number of views, (4) video source, (5) type of content, (6) upload date, (7) days since upload, and (8) views per day. Although the YouTube search using the four search terms produced over 2,600 videos, analysis of the remaining resources was deemed unnecessary as links on the first page (10–20 results) of an online search receive 70%–95% of web traffic. These videos were excluded from the analysis, and the remaining 83 videos were evaluated. Of the 300 videos extracted from the YouTube search, 101 videos were duplicates, 78 videos were focused on the medial collateral ligament of the knee, and 38 videos were focused on the UCL of the thumb ( Fig. Exclusion criteria consisted of any duplicate videos, any videos focused on the UCL of the thumb, any videos focused on the medial collateral ligament of the knee, and any videos that were not in English. Inclusion criteria included any video pertaining to the UCL of the elbow. We hypothesized that most of the video content would be of low quality and low reliability for patient education.Ī YouTube search was performed on Januusing four search terms: “ulnar collateral ligament,” “ulnar collateral ligament injury,” “medial collateral ligament,” and “medial collateral ligament injury.” The first 75 videos for each of the four search terms were reviewed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of health information available on YouTube concerning UCL injuries. Furthermore, younger athletes use these video platforms for medical information significantly more often than older athletes. Previous findings have shown that nearly 70% of athletes utilize the internet for medical-based information with YouTube being the most frequently used platform. This trend of utilizing online resources related to healthcare information has only increased among young patients over the last decade, a trend evidenced by the drastic rise in UCL-related social media posts in recent years. Given the sports-related nature of the injury in a young patient population (average age of 21.6 years), patients with UCL injuries may be more likely to access online resources for health information.
Accumulation of microtrauma to the UCL-for example, through repeated ball pitching motions-can result in eventual injury and failure of the ligament. UCL injuries are common among athletes who throw or put significant pressure on their elbows, especially baseball pitchers, quarterbacks, and gymnasts. UCL injuries are especially applicable for YouTube due to the unique patient population. However, the quality and accuracy of information on the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) of the elbow has yet to be investigated. Within orthopedic surgery, quality-based studies of YouTube videos have been conducted for topics such as kyphosis, the anterior cruciate ligament, and the meniscus. This limitation has been identified in numerous studies that have found a high prevalence of inaccurate health information and low quality medical videos on YouTube. Thus, despite the platform’s popularity, the accuracy, authenticity, or quality of the information it disseminates is not verified. While online orthopedic resources are becoming an increasingly popular avenue for patient education, videos on YouTube are not subject to institutional or peer review.
In particular, sports medicine patients have significantly higher internet and social media usage relative to any other field in orthopedics. YouTube has become a popular source for health information among patients with over 50% of the population engaging with the internet platform.