Patients Prefer Medical Facts and Educational Videos From Sports Medicine Surgeons on Social Media

Abstract

To provide updated information on which sports medicine patients are most influenced by provider presence on social media, as well as their preferences in social media platforms and content. Between November 2021 and January 2022, an anonymous online, voluntary, self-administered questionnaire containing 13 questions was distributed to patients who had a clinic visit with 1 of 2 orthopaedic sports medicine surgeons at the same institution. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. A total of 159 responses were received for a response rate of 29.5%. The most common platforms used by patients were Facebook (110; 84%), YouTube (69; 53%), and Instagram (61; 47%). Most participants indicated that it did not make a difference if their sports medicine surgeon was on social media (N= 99, 62%), and they indicated they would not travel further to see a physician who was active on social media (N= 85, 54%). Compared with other age groups, significantly more respondents over the age of 50 years used Facebook to follow their physicians (47 of 60, 78%, P= .012). Seventy-eight (50%) patients noted that they were interested in seeing medical facts, whereas 72 (46%) were interested in seeing educational videos on their physician's social media page. In this study, we found that sports medicine patients prefer to see educational videos and medical facts from their surgeons on social media, most predominantly on Facebook. Social media is a popular way to connect in our modern world. As the influence of sports medicine surgeons on social media grows, it is important to understand how this is perceived by patients.