Abstract
Background YouTube is a popular platform with many videos, which have potential educational value for medical students. Due to the lack of peer review, other surrogates are necessary to determine the content quality of such educational videos. Few studies have analyzed the research background or academic affiliation of the physicians associated with the production of YouTube videos for medical education. The research background or academic affiliations of those physicians may be a reflection of the content quality of these educational videos. Objective This study identifies physicians associated with the production of educational YouTube videos about shingles and analyzes those physicians based on their research background or academic affiliation, which may be good surrogates for video content quality. Methods Using the YouTube search engine with default settings, the term “shingles” was searched on May 8, 2020. A cross-sectional study was performed using the first 50 search results. A search on Scopus for each identified physician was performed, and data regarding their research background and academic affiliation were recorded. Results Of the 50 YouTube videos, 35 (70%) were categorized as academic. Of the 35 academic videos, 24 (71%) videos featured physicians, totaling 25 physicians overall. Out of these 25 physicians, 5 (20%) had at least 1 shingles-related publication and 8 (32%) had an h-index >10. A total of 21 (84%) physicians held an academic affiliation. Conclusions These results ensure to a certain degree the quality of the content in academic videos on YouTube for medical education. However, further evaluation is needed for this growing platform.
Highlights
Shingles, referred to as herpes zoster, classically presents as a painful vesicular rash distributed along a dermatomal pattern
A total of 21 (84%) physicians held an academic affiliation. These results ensure to a certain degree the quality of the content in academic videos on YouTube for medical education
This study identifies physicians associated with the production of academic YouTube videos about shingles and analyzes their research background and academic affiliation, which may be good surrogates for video content quality
Summary
Referred to as herpes zoster, classically presents as a painful vesicular rash distributed along a dermatomal pattern. Pain can persist even after the rash resolves in a complication known as postherpetic neuralgia. Shingles is caused by reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus, which lies dormant in nerve tissue after resolution of the initial infection known as chickenpox. Reactivation is typically due to stress or a weakened immunity. Despite the introduction of a shingles vaccine in 2006, recent studies have found no significant decline in the incidence of cases [2]. Few studies have analyzed the research background or academic affiliation of the physicians associated with the production of YouTube videos for medical education. The research background or academic affiliations of those physicians may be a reflection of the content quality of these educational videos
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