Is the YouTube™ a useful resource of information about orthognathic surgery?: A cross-sectional study

YouTube™ has become a widely used resource of information about health-related topics nowadays. This cross-sectional study has aimed to analyze the content and quality of YouTube™ videos on orthognathic surgery.

In our study, six orthognathic surgery-related keywords (Le Fort I osteotomy, sagittal split osteotomy, jaw surgery, jaw correction surgery, orthodontic surgery, and orthognathic surgery) were used to search on YouTube™. Only the videos in English, which had visually and audibly acceptable quality and were mainly about orthognathic surgery, were chosen from the videos. A total of 360 videos were selected, the top 60 videos for each search term, and sorted according to view count. Of these videos, the first 60 videos were analyzed. Video source (independent or educational), duration, number of views, likes, and dislikes were recorded for each video. Moreover, two impartial observers evaluated the visibility, popularity, quality, usefulness, and reliability of the videos.

41 of 60 videos were of independent sources while 19 of them were of educational origin. Information content of the videos was found to be insufficient. No significant difference was determined between independent and educational videos in terms of popularity, visibility, usefulness and quality analysis of the videos (p > 0.05), but a significant difference was found in terms of reliability values (p < 0.05).

It can be said that YouTube™ videos were not a reliable and accurate enough source of information when evaluated in terms of orthognathic surgery-related content and quality. Therefore, the information content provided by specialists and health institutions, in particular, should be increased in number, thereby making access to better quality information on orthognathic surgery easy for patients.