YouTube: A good source of information on pediatric tonsillectomy?

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2013.03.023Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

To investigate YouTube as a patient information source on pediatric tonsillectomy.

Methods

YouTube was searched on July 31, 2012 for the search terms pediatric tonsillectomy (PT), tonsillectomy (T) and tonsil surgery (TS). Non-English videos were excluded. Two physician reviewers independently assessed the videos for characteristics, usefulness, and information source. Usefulness was assessed according to a checklist developed by the authors. Any discrepancies were resolved by consensuses. Data were analyzed with SPSS software.

Results

One hundred fifty-six videos were included in the analysis. Forty videos were classified as very or moderately useful (25.6%). Sources of the videos were as follows: patient experience, 103 videos (66%); physician, 30 (19%); surgical technique, 14 (9%); and news report, 9 (6%). Physician sourced information was generally at least moderately useful (58%) and patient experience videos were the predominant source of videos categorized as not useful or misleading (50%). Physician sourced information (coefficient = 0.61; 95% CI: .21 to 1.00, p = 0.003) and PT search term (coefficient = 0.26; 95% CI: 0.05 to .47, p = 0.017) were the most useful videos after adjusting for mean duration, days online, number of views and page search.

Conclusion

YouTube has a large number of videos on pediatric tonsillectomy with a variety of content ranging from very useful to not useful, and misleading. Health care professionals must recognize the potential influence that these video Web sites may have on patient attitudes.

Introduction

Tonsillectomy is a common surgery performed on pediatric patients by Otolaryngologists. Prior to the information age, patients and their caregivers would usually rely on physicians to provide education on diagnoses and treatment options. The advent of easily accessible health-related information on the Internet [1] has changed this physician-patient relationship. Fifty million Americans search health-related information on the Internet monthly, with 100 million viewers accessing websites such as YouTube [2].

Two surveys of caregivers of children undergoing otolaryngology procedures showed the prevalence of Internet use as an information source and influence on clinical decision-making [3], [4]. One hundred seventeen parents or guardians of children undergoing otolaryngologic surgery in a private hospital in Brazil showed that 90% used the Internet to search for information on the disease and surgical treatment, only 10% discussed this information with their physician, and 78% reported that this information had impact upon the decision to have their child undergo surgery [3]. At Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Boston et al. surveyed 204 caregivers and showed that 83% of responders had Internet access, and of these, 48% searched the Internet for information related to their child's diagnosis or surgical procedure, and 93% stated that this information was helpful and understandable and 84% reported that it influenced or somewhat influenced their decision-making [4].

YouTube is a popular source of video blogs and short original videos uploaded by individuals [5]. Most videos on YouTube are based on personal experience although some videos from professional sources such as physicians are available. This diversity of authorship and lack of peer-review process on YouTube has led to the posting of inaccurate or misleading health information [1], [2].

Recent studies have evaluated the quality and accuracy of pediatric otolaryngology written health information on the Internet. These show a heterogeneous assortment of high and low quality information sources [6], [7]. Since these sources are sought out by patients and their caregivers and play a role in their decision-making process, physicians should be cognizant of the availability and quality of Internet-based information. No search has been carried out to date regarding the usefulness of online videos for pediatric tonsillectomy. In this study, the video-based source YouTube, was evaluated as a patient source of information for pediatric tonsillectomy.

Section snippets

Methods

YouTube (www.youtube.com) was searched on July 31, 2012 for videos containing relevant information about tonsillectomies in pediatric patients. The following search terms were used: pediatric tonsillectomy (PT), tonsillectomy (T), and tonsil surgery (TS). Non-English videos were excluded. On the assumption that no user would go beyond the first three pages for a specific search term, only the videos on these pages were evaluated. This study did not require approval by the Hamilton Health

Results

The search identified 2594 videos (search terms PT = 86 videos, T = 1880, TS = 628). After limiting the review to the first three pages of search results and excluding irrelevant videos, 156 videos were reviewed (PT = 38, T = 59, TS = 59). Descriptive statistics are listed in Table 2. Only five videos were very useful (3.2%). Most videos were somewhat useful (39.2%) or not useful (32.7%). Three videos were misleading (1.9%).

Physician sourced information was generally at least moderately useful (58%).

Discussion

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the usefulness and accuracy of YouTube as a patient source of information for pediatric tonsillectomy. Only 3.2% of videos reviewed were deemed to be very useful and of these, physicians posted the majority. One video was duplicated in the search by two different search terms (PT and T) [8]. We cannot recommend the patient experience video that was categorized as very useful as the informative narration was visually set against a

Conclusion

YouTube has a substantial number of videos on pediatric tonsillectomy with a variety of content ranging from useful to misleading. The widespread availability of Internet use as a source of health-related information has added complexity to the physician-patient relationship. Health care professionals must recognize the potential influence that these user-generated video Web sites may have on the attitudes of patients and their caregivers. A small number of these videos were deemed very useful

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, at whose annual meeting this poster was presented in September 2012 in Washington, DC.

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    This manuscript was presented as a poster at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery Annual Meeting in Washington, DC from September 9–12, 2012.

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