Reliability of laparoscopic lateral suspension videos on YouTube platform

Abstract

Objective: YouTube is one of the most popular websites globally and its content is not limited to entertainment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the reliability, quality and quantity of information and surgical steps in YouTube videos about laparoscopic lateral suspension with mesh for the surgical treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (LLS). Material and Methods: A search on YouTube was performed with the key words; " laparoscopic lateral suspension’’, ‘’lateral suspension ", ‘’ pelvic organ prolapse surgery’’, ‘’POPS with mesh’’, ‘’Pelvic Organ Prolapse Suspension’’. Each video was further analysed in terms of reliability, quality and quantity of information. Results: A total of 44 videos were evaluated after excluding 36 of the 88 videos associated with LLS. According to the usefulness score, the videos were divided into two groups. 61.4%(n=27) of the videos were in GroupI (not useful and slightly useful) and 38.6% (n=17) were in GroupII ( useful and very useful). There was no difference between the groups in terms of video length, number of views, number of likes, number of dislikes, number of comments and number of subscribers. A Spearman’s rank correlation analysis found no correlation between the usefulness score and like ratio, views ratio, like / view rate, like/subscriber rate, view/subscriber rate, VPI rates. Conclusion: Since the videos uploaded to YouTube do not pass a preliminary examination, their reliability is low even if they are uploaded by health professionals. There is no relationship between quantitative information of the LLS videos and the usefulness scores of the videos.