The World's consumption of free web-based Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery educational resources: A global assessment of video usage trends

Abstract

Objectives: Online educational platforms with open access have seen a growing adoption in the field of medical education. However, the extent of their global usage is still unclear. To fill this knowledge gap, our objective is to examine the usage patterns of two renowned open-access resources in Otolaryngology. This includes identifying the most sought-after topics and understanding the demographics of their users.

Methods: Retrospective study of web analytics data between 2016 and 2021 extracted from the Headmirror.com and Mayo Clinic Otolaryngology YouTube channel platforms analyzing demographic and education topic trends via descriptive, geospatial, time-series, t-tests, and ANOVA analyses.

Results: Viewership spanned 124 countries in 7 different geographic regions, with 72 countries comprising low- to middle-income countries, mostly represented ages of 25-34 years old, came from high-income countries rather than low-income (p < .001), and used mobile phones followed by computers for device access. Video-educational material comprised of subspecialty topics on Rhinology and Sinus Surgery (25%) at the highest end and Facial Trauma (1%) at the lowest. Controlling for the age of the video content, the most-accessed videos comprised of subspecialty topics on Head and Neck Surgery at the highest end and Laryngology at the lowest with significant differentiation across topics of interest (p < .044).

Conclusions: This assessment of web-analytics platforms from two widely used otolaryngology free, online-access materials showed increasing global usage trends with significant differentiating factors along viewership demographics, as well as sought-after subspecialty topics of interest. In turn, our results not only lay the groundwork for characterizing the global otolaryngology audience but also for future development of targeted educational materials and accessibility initiatives aimed at ameliorating global educational disparities in the field.

Keywords: demography; developed countries; developing countries; global surgery; open‐access; social media.

FIGURE 1

Geospatial analysis of log‐base 10 of (A) YouTube Views and (B) Headmirror.com web traffic.

FIGURE 2

Average percentage of views, percentage of cumulative watch time, average view duration (min) and average percentage video watched by viewer location through grouping of high‐income countries (HICs) versus low‐ to middle‐income countries (LMICs) as defined by the World Bank Data. Figure shows that the average view durations across the countries comprising the country‐income levels were significantly higher (p < .001) in HICs (3.56 ± 1.91 h) than LMICs (2.22 ± 1.30 h) but not for average percentage of video watched (p = .540).

FIGURE 3

Timeseries analysis of average (A) YouTube daily views and (B) Headmirror.com yearly clicks by country‐of‐origin income groups. Repeated measures t‐test were performed, *p < .05, ***p < .001, ****p < .0001. HIC, high‐income country; LMIC, low‐ to middle‐income country.

FIGURE 4

Cumulative number of YouTube views and watch time by subspecialty topic. One‐way ANOVA was performed.

FIGURE 5

Average views per day and average watch time per day (h/day) for each video category from 2018 to 2021. Video categories are labeled according to color.