Low educational quality and trustworthiness of YouTube videos by physiotherapists on shoulder joint mobilization techniques: a descriptive study.

INTRODUCTION

Physiotherapists and students may be vulnerable to false information and may learn faulty treatment techniques due to inadequate educational quality and uncertainty about sources and trustworthiness of YouTube videos.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate educational quality, trustworthiness, and content completeness of joint mobilization techniques demonstrating videos available on YouTube.

DESIGN

This is a descriptive study.

METHODS

We performed a YouTube search on 1 April 2019, using the keyword 'Maitland joint mobilization technique for shoulder joint'. Three academic physiotherapists independently rated each video for educational quality, trustworthiness, and content completeness using the Global Quality Score, Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Benchmark Criteria and joint mobilization content completeness scale, respectively.

RESULTS

Fifteen videos were included in the study. The median number of views for videos was 1263 (IQR 578-1478), and the median duration was 140 seconds (IQR 71-301 seconds). Most videos had low content quality (87%), poor joint mobilization content completeness (80%), and limited trustworthiness. All videos had low source quality (100%).

CONCLUSIONS

There is a lack of quality information on shoulder joint mobilization techniques on YouTube, which makes it a limited educational tool for physiotherapists and students.