YouTube does not provide reliable information about glenohumeral osteoarthritis: A quantitative analysis

Objective: Although less prevalent than other forms, glenohumeral osteoarthritis affects nearly one-fifth of elderly adults. YouTube has emerged as a popular source of health information for patients, but there is growing concern among physicians about the potential for misleading content. Notably, there is a significant gap in the literature concerning the quality of YouTube videos on glenohumeral osteoarthritis. This study aims to address this gap by evaluating educational value of such videos and contribute valuable insights to the credibility of online health information on glenohumeral osteoarthritis. Materials and Methods : A systematic search of the YouTube database was performed using the following terms: "glenohumeral arthritis", "shoulder arthritis", and "osteoarthritis of shoulder,". To evaluate the reliability, accuracy, and content quality of the videos, DISCERN, JAMA Benchmark and Global Quality Scale (GQS) were used. Correlation of video characteristics with number of views, likes, video duration was examined using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) model. Two-sample t-tests and regression analyses assessed score variations based on video sources. Agreement between reviewers was assessed by interclass correlation coefficient. Results: A total of 102 videos were included in the study. The mean video duration was 8.7 minutes. The mean number of views was 348 and the viewing rate was 0.25. The mean number of likes was 46.3. The mean DISCERN score was 44.73 (ICC=0.93), mean GQS was 2.59 (ICC=0.87), and the mean JAMA score was 2.5. According to the classification of DISCERN; 13.6% of the videos were very insufficient quality, 45% were insufficient quality, 32.3% were average quality, and 7.8% were good quality. According to the Global Quality Score, 60 (58.9%) videos were rated as poor quality. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that the majority of YouTube videos regarding glenohumeral osteoarthritis include insufficient-quality content. Health professionals should recognize these limitations and make a concerted effort to provide higher quality educational content to patients to better improve patient satisfaction and treatment outcomes.