Evaluating the Quality of Information in Instagram Posts Related to Spine Surgery: A Methodological Study

Objective The purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality of information in Instagram posts related to spine surgeries. Materials and methods Seven hashtags related to the most common spine surgeries were identified (#scoliosissurgery, #spondylolisthesis, #microdiscectomy, #spinalfusionsurgery, #spinesurgery, #acdfsurgery, and #vertebroplasty). The first 15 posts listed by the Instagram algorithm for each hashtag were recorded. A total of 105 posts were found, of which 96 were relevant to the research topic, and they were evaluated by two independent physicians using a Modified DISCERN analysis consisting of five questions. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and comparisons were made using the Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test (p=0.05). Results Fifty percent of the posts (n=48) were shared by physicians, and 50% (n=48) were shared by patients. Among these, 79.2% were photos (n=76), and 20.8% were videos (n=20). When evaluating the information quality of patient and physician posts, the information quality of the physician group was found to be significantly higher than that of the patient group (p<0.001). However, there was no significant difference between the information quality of photo and video posts (P=0.129). Conclusion Although the posts shared by physicians are considered more reliable than those shared by patients, Instagram posts are not regarded as a reliable source of information for patients.