YouTube videos as an information source about exercises for temporomandibular disorders

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are musculoskeletal and/or neuromuscular conditions that affect the muscles, joints and associated structures of the stomatognathic system.

This study aimed to evaluate the quality and reliability of publicly available English-language videos on YouTube about TMD exercises, and to examine the video sources and professional groups responsible for the creation of the videos.

The quality and reliability of the YouTube videos related to TMD exercises were evaluated using the DISCERN score, the global quality scale (GQS) and the JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) score.

Of the 121 videos evaluated, 30 (24.8%) were uploaded by professional organizations, 49 (40.5%) by health information websites, and 42 (34.7%) were uploaded by independent users. Professional organizations had a significantly higher number of subscribers, likes, comments, and views than healthcare webpages and independent users (p < 0.001). The duration of videos uploaded by independent users was significantly longer than that of videos uploaded by healthcare webpages (p = 0.018). With regard to the profession of the video narrators, the unspecified group exhibited significantly lower JAMA (p < 0.001), GQS (p = 0.011) and DISCERN scores (p = 0.002) compared to chiropractors, physiotherapists, physicians, and other healthcare professionals. The JAMA scores for physicians, personal trainers and chiropractors were significantly lower than those for other healthcare professionals (p < 001). The JAMA score was positively correlated with the GQS (r = 0.469, p < 0.001) and DISCERN (r = 0.505, p < 0.001) scores. Similarly, the DISCERN score was positively correlated with the GQS score (r = 0.924, p < 0.001).

Despite the abundance of video content on YouTube about TMD exercises, the quality of these videos is low, and their reliability is questionable.