Do YouTube Videos Provide Enough Reliable Information to Patients about White Spot Lesions? A Video Content and Quality Analysis

Abstract This study examines the quality and reliability of videos about white spot lesions (WSLs) uploaded to YouTube. The keyword required for searching was analyzed using the Google Trends online application, which determined a “white spot lesion.” The first 140 videos about WSLs were watched and 85 of them were evaluated. The videos watched were divided into two categories according to their reliability score (RS): low reliability and medium/high reliability. The videos also examined the global quality index (GQS) and video information and quality index (VIQI) data for the videos. Pearson’s chi-squared test, Fisher’s exact test, and multivariate analysis of variance were used to evaluate the data. It was determined that there were more videos about WSLs with medium/high reliability (65.9%) than with low reliability and that most of the videos were uploaded by clinics (49.4%). The videos contained more information about WSLs in terms of definition (70.6%), treatment indication (77.6%), treatment advantage (77.6%), and treatment procedure (76.5%). It was also determined that the mean GQS, VIQI, and RS values differed according to video reliability category, and only the mean interaction index values differed significantly according to video source (p < .05). Most YouTube videos about WSLs examined in this study were of medium/high reliability. Thus, it can be concluded that the videos about WSLs on YouTube are generally reliable.