{"title":"Recommended exercises for lower back pain on YouTube videos; Are they useful or harmful?","authors":"Rabia Aydogan Baykara , Nevsun Pıhtılı Taş","doi":"10.1016/j.hlpt.2024.100891","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>Low back pain (LBP), a common public health problem affecting nearly 80 % of the population, causes disability and work absence, while exercise is recommended as an adjuvant treatment. YouTube is one of the most frequently used source of information, especially by patients. The aim of the study was to analyze clinically the reliability, feasibility and the content quality of exercises videos recommended for LBP on YouTube. channel.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Based on the observational study of the number of views of YouTube videos, 154 videos worth evaluation were selected using the keywords \"low back pain” and “exercises\",. The content quality of each video was evaluated with a) the American Medical Association Journal (JAMA), b) DISCERN, c) Global Quality Score (GQS), and d) Medical Quality Video Assessment Tool (MQ-VET) scales, while Pearson correlation analysis was performed to determine the correlation between the JAMA, GQS, DISCERN, MQ-VET scale scores.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>According to the findings, the primary source for uploading exercise videos were physicians (32.5 %), with a high content quality. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the total scores of all quality scales and the independent variables defined as view rates and number of comments (<em>p</em> < .05). The analysis of the video content showed that only 35 % (<em>n</em> = 54) of the videos explained the risks of the recommended exercises in detail</p></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>It can be concluded that the relability and feasibility of exercise videos for LBP on YouTube depend highly on the upload source. Thus digital content in health should be created with a multi-disciplinary team including healthcare professionals and also standardized to inform patients with the risks and benefits to avoid the potential harm due to the complex causes of low back pain.</p></div><div><h3>Public Interest Summary</h3><p>Low Back Pain, which a major health problem, is the most common musculoskeletal disorder leading to increased medical expenses and work absenteeism, while the most appropriate intervention remains elusive.. The therapeutic exercise program might differ according to patient's age, physical condition and the severity of the disease, while sustainability of the exercise program depends on the preference of exercise type of each patient. From this perspective, it is an important advantage that different exercise videos are available on YouTube. However, the content quality and reliability of exercise videos are the discriminators for the expected outcomes, since good quality content will benefit patients and prevent possible injuries and worsening of pain.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48672,"journal":{"name":"Health Policy and Technology","volume":"13 3","pages":"Article 100891"},"PeriodicalIF":3.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Health Policy and Technology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211883724000546","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HEALTH POLICY & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective
Low back pain (LBP), a common public health problem affecting nearly 80 % of the population, causes disability and work absence, while exercise is recommended as an adjuvant treatment. YouTube is one of the most frequently used source of information, especially by patients. The aim of the study was to analyze clinically the reliability, feasibility and the content quality of exercises videos recommended for LBP on YouTube. channel.
Methods
Based on the observational study of the number of views of YouTube videos, 154 videos worth evaluation were selected using the keywords "low back pain” and “exercises",. The content quality of each video was evaluated with a) the American Medical Association Journal (JAMA), b) DISCERN, c) Global Quality Score (GQS), and d) Medical Quality Video Assessment Tool (MQ-VET) scales, while Pearson correlation analysis was performed to determine the correlation between the JAMA, GQS, DISCERN, MQ-VET scale scores.
Results
According to the findings, the primary source for uploading exercise videos were physicians (32.5 %), with a high content quality. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the total scores of all quality scales and the independent variables defined as view rates and number of comments (p < .05). The analysis of the video content showed that only 35 % (n = 54) of the videos explained the risks of the recommended exercises in detail
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the relability and feasibility of exercise videos for LBP on YouTube depend highly on the upload source. Thus digital content in health should be created with a multi-disciplinary team including healthcare professionals and also standardized to inform patients with the risks and benefits to avoid the potential harm due to the complex causes of low back pain.
Public Interest Summary
Low Back Pain, which a major health problem, is the most common musculoskeletal disorder leading to increased medical expenses and work absenteeism, while the most appropriate intervention remains elusive.. The therapeutic exercise program might differ according to patient's age, physical condition and the severity of the disease, while sustainability of the exercise program depends on the preference of exercise type of each patient. From this perspective, it is an important advantage that different exercise videos are available on YouTube. However, the content quality and reliability of exercise videos are the discriminators for the expected outcomes, since good quality content will benefit patients and prevent possible injuries and worsening of pain.
期刊介绍:
Health Policy and Technology (HPT), is the official journal of the Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine (FPM), a cross-disciplinary journal, which focuses on past, present and future health policy and the role of technology in clinical and non-clinical national and international health environments.
HPT provides a further excellent way for the FPM to continue to make important national and international contributions to development of policy and practice within medicine and related disciplines. The aim of HPT is to publish relevant, timely and accessible articles and commentaries to support policy-makers, health professionals, health technology providers, patient groups and academia interested in health policy and technology.
Topics covered by HPT will include:
- Health technology, including drug discovery, diagnostics, medicines, devices, therapeutic delivery and eHealth systems
- Cross-national comparisons on health policy using evidence-based approaches
- National studies on health policy to determine the outcomes of technology-driven initiatives
- Cross-border eHealth including health tourism
- The digital divide in mobility, access and affordability of healthcare
- Health technology assessment (HTA) methods and tools for evaluating the effectiveness of clinical and non-clinical health technologies
- Health and eHealth indicators and benchmarks (measure/metrics) for understanding the adoption and diffusion of health technologies
- Health and eHealth models and frameworks to support policy-makers and other stakeholders in decision-making
- Stakeholder engagement with health technologies (clinical and patient/citizen buy-in)
- Regulation and health economics