Is YouTube™ a useful resource of information about bichectomy? A cross-sectional study

This study sought to evaluate the content and quality value of bichectomy-related YouTube™ videos.

Four keywords (bichectomy, buccal fat removal, buccal lipectomy, Bichat's fat pad) related to bichectomy were searched on YouTube™. The top 100 videos were analyzed according to the number of views, taking into account video exclusion criteria for each keyword. The top 100 videos with the most views out of the 400 total videos included were used in our study. Video source, runtime, viewers, likes, dislikes, reliability, popularity, visibility, and usefulness were recorded and analyzed for each video. Among these videos, the top 10 videos with the best values according to all these criteria were also evaluated.

Of the 100 videos included, 60 were from health professionals, 21 from health sites, 14 from individual sources, and the remaining 5 from other sources. In the statistical analysis, based on their sources, reliability values were the only factor among videos that significantly differed (P<0.05). Nonetheless, no significant difference was determined in the values of views, likes, quality, and usefulness (P>0.05).

After bichectomy-related content and video quality analysis, YouTube™ videos did not meet the criteria for being an adequate and trustworthy source of information for patients. Particularly the videos that are uploaded by health professionals and organizations ought to be of better quality with a higher level of information content.