Starks Catherine, Akkera Mounika, Shalaby Mahmoud, Munshi Ruhul, Toraih Eman, Lee Grace S, Kandil Emad, Shama Mohamed Ahmed
Department of Surgery & Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
Department of Surgery, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
Gland Surg. 2021 Feb;10(2):697-705. doi: 10.21037/gs-20-734.
Patients and physicians are increasingly utilizing online video sharing sites such as YouTube for obtaining and disseminating health-related information in multimedia format; however, due to its free, open-access platform, YouTube videos fall short in providing validated, up-to-date medical information, and may even convey unintended messages to patients who are seeking additional information on surgeries. We evaluated the relevance, reliability, and quality of YouTube videos on novel surgical techniques in thyroid surgery.
The top 50 indexed YouTube videos for the queries, "robotic thyroid surgery" and "transoral thyroid surgery", were assessed by two independent reviewers for video quality and reliability for patient understanding. Videos were scored using Global Quality Score (GQS), a scale for video quality, and DISCERN Scoring, a questionnaire for reliability and quality measures of information presented.
The mean ± standard deviation (SD) duration of the videos (n=50) was 8.1±3.7 minutes. Total views were 261,440 and the mean ± SD time since upload was 3.6±2.6 years. The median and interquartile range of video power index (VPI) was 1.9 (0.5-3.7), GQS was 3.0 (2.0-4.0), and DISCERN score was 2.8 (2.3-3.2). Most videos were uploaded by physicians (75.8%) and the highest number of videos (63.6%) uploaded were from the United States (US). Videos with higher quality and reliability scores were uploaded by academic professionals, and included videos of physicians who described procedural information, perioperative instructions, and possible postoperative complications (P<0.05). Adequate medical information on the procedure and discussion of complications in YouTube videos were independent predictors of advanced educational quality and reliability.
Clinical information on new surgical techniques such as transoral and robotic thyroid surgeries in YouTube videos scored low on quality and reliability as a source of patient education. Physicians should provide supplemental educational material online and offline to aid patient understanding of novel procedures.
患者和医生越来越多地利用在线视频分享网站（如YouTube）以多媒体形式获取和传播健康相关信息；然而，由于其免费、开放访问的平台，YouTube视频在提供经过验证的最新医学信息方面存在不足，甚至可能向寻求手术更多信息的患者传达意想不到的信息。我们评估了YouTube上关于甲状腺手术新手术技术视频的相关性、可靠性和质量。
由两名独立评审员对“机器人甲状腺手术”和“经口甲状腺手术”查询结果中排名前50的索引YouTube视频进行视频质量和患者理解可靠性评估。使用视频质量量表全球质量评分（GQS）和用于所呈现信息的可靠性和质量测量的问卷DISCERN评分对视频进行评分。
视频（n = 50）的平均时长±标准差（SD）为8.1±3.7分钟。总观看次数为261,440次，自上传以来的平均时长±标准差为3.6±2.6年。视频功率指数（VPI）的中位数和四分位间距为1.9（0.5 - 3.7），GQS为3.0（2.0 - 4.0），DISCERN评分为2.8（2.3 - 3.2）。大多数视频由医生上传（75.8%），上传视频数量最多的是来自美国（63.6%）。质量和可靠性评分较高的视频由学术专业人员上传，包括描述手术过程信息、围手术期指导和可能的术后并发症的医生视频（P < 0.05）。YouTube视频中关于手术的充分医学信息和并发症讨论是高级教育质量和可靠性的独立预测因素。
YouTube视频中关于经口和机器人甲状腺手术等新手术技术的临床信息作为患者教育来源，在质量和可靠性方面得分较低。医生应在线上和线下提供补充教育材料，以帮助患者理解新手术。
