The Evaluation of YouTube™ Videos Pertaining to Intraoperative Anaesthesia Awareness: A Reliability and Quality Analysis

Aim The objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability and quality of YouTube™ (Google, Inc., Mountain View, CA) videos pertaining to anaesthesia awareness. Methods We evaluated the most commonly viewed 100 videos pertaining to anaesthesia awareness. The YouTube™ videos’ image type, qualification of the uploaders, video content, video length in minutes, upload time, time since upload, total view count, daily view count and comment and like counts were recorded. The quality of the YouTube™ videos was evaluated using the Global Quality Scale (GQS), and the reliability was determined using the modified DISCERN scale. Results Of all videos, 34 (34%) were uploaded directly by physicians, 16 (16%) by patients, 14 (14%) by health channels, 13 (13%) by TV shows and 23 (23%) by others. The mean video length was 11.48±11.96 minutes. The average DISCERN score was 4.47±0.58 in the professional and 3.28±0.65 in the non-professional video group (p<0.001). The mean GQS score was 4.47±0.52 in the professional and 3.35±0.67 in the non-professional video group (p<0.001). Conclusion The results of this study indicate that a significant portion of the YouTube™ videos pertaining to anaesthesia awareness were uploaded directly by physicians or by health channels. Physicians and professional health institutions should be promoted to provide accurate and more reliable videos to direct patients to the right solutions for their problems. YouTube™ videos should be subjected to supervision before they can be publicly viewed.