Evaluating the reliability and quality of YouTube videos regarding medial collateral ligament knee injury as a patient education resource

Abstract

ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to assess the educational reliability and quality of videos shared on YouTube regarding medial collateral ligament (MCL) injuries of the knee. MethodsUsing the search keywords “medial collateral ligament” on YouTube, the first 50 videos were evaluated by two independent reviewers. Video characteristics were extracted, and each video was categorized by upload source and content type. Three scoring systems were used to evaluate the videos: the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Benchmark Score to assess a video's reliability; the Global Quality Score (GQS) to assess educational quality; the novel MCL Specific Score (MCL-SS) to assess MCL-specific content quality. Linear regression analyses were conducted to explore relationships between video characteristics and scores. ResultsCollectively, the videos were viewed 5,759,427 times with a mean number of views per video of 115,189 ​± ​177,861. The mean JAMA score was 1.8, GQS was 2.1, and MCL-SS was 5.6, indicating both poor reliability and quality. Only videos uploaded by physicians showed a statistically significantly higher mean MCL-SS (P ​= ​0.032) but were still of low quality with a mean MCL-SS of 9.2 ​± ​5.9. Multivariate linear regression revealed that videos uploaded by physicians were statistically significant predictors of greater MCL-SS (β ​= ​4.108; P ​= ​0.029). Longer video durations were statistically significant predictors of greater GQS (β ​= ​0.001; P ​= ​0.002) and MCL-SS (β ​= ​0.007; P ​< ​0.001). ConclusionsYouTube videos regarding MCL injuries, despite their popularity, were found to be on average having poor overall reliability and quality as measured by JAMA, GQS and MCL-SS. Level of evidenceIII. Study designCross-sectional Study.