YouTube Videos on Lateral Epicondylitis Often Lack High-Quality, Reliable Information

Abstract

Purpose: To measure the quality and reliability of information from YouTube videos related to lateral epicondylitis (LE).

Methods: The first 50 videos obtained from a YouTube search for "lateral epicondylitis" were evaluated. Video reliability was assessed using the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria (range 0-5). The videos' reliability and quality was evaluated using the Global Quality Score (GQS) (range 0-4), and the Lateral Epicondylitis Specific Score (LESS). Analysis of variance was used to examine differences in reliability and quality across content types and uploaders. Multivariate stepwise regressions were conducted to understand how specific video characteristics influence JAMA benchmark criteria, GQS, and LESS scores.

Results: The 50 videos had a total viewership of 15,491,927, with an average of 309,838 views per video (range 1,492-2,814,670). Most videos focused on disease-specific information (40%). Nonphysician medical professionals created most of the content (56%), followed by physicians (28%). The mean JAMA benchmark criteria, GQS, and LESS scores were 2.69 (±.59) of 4.0, 2.64 (±.87) of 5.0, and 4.91 (±1.0) of 7.0, respectively. Analysis showed that academic sources had greater LESS scores (P = .035); physicians had higher JAMA benchmark criteria scores than non-physicians (P = .025); nonphysicians had greater GQS than commercials (P = .031); and nonphysicians had greater VPI than physicians (P = .020). Linear regression analysis showed longer duration videos correlated with greater GCS scores (β: 0.656, P < .001) and greater LESS (β: 0.614, P < .001), whereas commercial content types had with lower GCS (standardized beta -0.280, P = .045).

Conclusions: Although YouTube videos related to lateral epicondylitis have millions of views, the information covered had low to moderate quality and reliability as measured by JAMA benchmark criteria, GQS, and LESS.

Clinical relevance: Lateral epicondylitis is a common condition that patients may research online. As the content on YouTube is continually increasing and its popularity remains high, it is important to continually investigate the quality of information available on this platform.

Fig 1

Relative frequencies of video content for lateral epicondylitis−related YouTube videos.

Fig 2

Relative frequencies of video upload source for lateral epicondylitis−related YouTube videos.