Quality and Reliability of YouTube Videos on Intravesical Botulinum Toxin Injections: A Provider-Based Evaluation

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Medical Education
• Digital Health

Background:

• YouTube is a popular platform for health information.
• The quality and educational value of YouTube videos on specific medical procedures like intravesical botulinum toxin injection (IBI) are not well-established.
• Assessing these videos is crucial for patient understanding and informed decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the quality, popularity, and educational content of YouTube videos concerning intravesical botulinum toxin injection (IBI).
• To compare the effectiveness of IBI educational content across different video sources.

Main Methods:

• A systematic YouTube search was performed using keywords related to IBI.
• Videos were categorized by source: academic institutions, health information websites, and physicians/private organizations.
• Quality and educational value were assessed using the Global Quality Score (GQS), Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials (PEMAT-A/V), and an IBI-Specific Checklist (IBI-SC).

Main Results:

• Videos from academic institutions demonstrated significantly higher quality and educational value compared to those from physicians or private medical organizations, based on PEMAT-A/V and IBI-SC scores.
• Global Quality Scores also varied significantly by source, with academic institutions performing best.
• Strong correlations were found between understandability, actionability, and IBI-specific content scores.

Conclusions:

• The source of educational content on YouTube significantly impacts its quality and effectiveness for intravesical botulinum toxin injection (IBI).
• Academic institutions produce the highest-quality educational videos on IBI.
• There is a clear need for standardized, open-access health information resources for specific medical educational purposes.