Evaluating the Quality and Reliability of Cervical Spine Isometric Exercise Videos on YouTube for Neck Pain: A...

YouTube contains simple and easily accessible home/health hacks, including self-exercises. However, the quality/reliability of health-related content cannot always be assured, potentially leading to unreliable and harmful information. With rising digital device use, musculoskeletal cervical pain has increased, and neck exercises on YouTube have not been previously evaluated.

This study aimed to evaluate the quality/reliability of YouTube neck isometric exercise videos.

A cross-sectional review of YouTube videos on cervical isometric exercises for neck pain was conducted on January 21, 2024. Videos demonstrating cervical isometric exercises, published within the past 10 years, and ≤20 minutes in duration were included. Non-English, duplicate, sponsored, or non-educational videos were excluded. Eligible videos were assessed using the Global Quality Scale and modified DISCERN scale.

21/197 videos were included. Most videos had moderate quality (52.38%), uploaded by non-physician healthcare professionals (76.19%). Videos with generally poor quality (14.29%) were mostly uploaded by independent users (66.67%). Video quality varied according to the upload source.

Quality and reliability of exercise videos vary based on sources. Videos produced by non-physician healthcare professionals were higher in quality/reliability than those produced by independent users. Medical professionals and institutions can be proactive in providing more quality/reliable public health-related resources.