ONLINE CURVES: A QUALITY ANALYSIS OF SCOLIOSIS VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE

Background The internet is an increasingly utilised resource for accessing information regarding a variety of heath conditions. YouTube is a popular video sharing platform used to both seek and distribute information online.Materials & MethodsA search for ‘scoliosis’ was carried out using YouTube's search engine and data was collected on the first fifty videos returned. A JAMA score (to determine currency, authorship, source and disclosure) and scoliosis specific score (that measures the amount of information on the diagnosis and treatment options as devised by Mathur et al in 2005; scored 0–32) was recorded for each video to measure quality objectively. Additionally the number of views, number of comments and feedback positivity was documented for each. Data analysis was conducted using R 3.1.4/R Studio 0.98 with control for the age of each video in analysis models.ResultsThe average number of views per video was 71,152 with an average length of 7 minutes 32 seconds. Thirty six percent of the videos fell...