A quality analysis of the YouTube video content on meniscus repair surgery

OBJECTIVES: The Internet, especially YouTube, is an important and growing source of medical information. The content of this information is poorly evaluated. The objective of this study was to analyze the quality of YouTube video content on meniscus repair. The hypothesis was that this source of information is not relevant for patients. METHODS: A YouTube search was carried out using the keywords "meniscus repair". Videos had to have had more than 10,000 views to be included. The videos were analyzed by two evaluators. Various features of the videos were recorded (number of views, date of publication, "likes", "don’t likes", number of comments, source, type of content and the origin of the video). The quality of the video content was analyzed by two validated information system scores: the JAMA benchmark score (0 to 4) and the Modified DISCERN score (0 to 5). A specific meniscus repair score (MRSS scored out of 22) was developed for this study, in the same way that a specific score has been developed for other similar studies (anterior cruciate ligament, spine, etc.). RESULTS: Forty-four (44) videos were included in the study. The average number of views per video was 180,100 (± 222,000) for a total number of views of 7,924,095. The majority of the videos were from North America (90.9%). In most cases, the source (uploader) that published the video was a doctor (59.1%). A manufacturer, an institution and a non-medical source were the other sources. The content actually contained information on meniscus repair in only 50% of the cases. The mean scores for the JAMA benchmark, MD score and MRSS were 1.6/4± 0.75, 1.2/5 ± 1.02 and 4.5/22 (± 4.01) respectively. No correlation was found between the number of views and the quality of the videos. The quality of videos from medical sources was not superior to those from other sources. CONCLUSION: The content of YouTube videos on meniscus repair is of very low quality. Physicians should inform patients and, more importantly, contribute to the improvement of these contents.