The quality of YouTube videos related to aesthetic injectables is lower than that of websites, according to a study published in the March issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery .

Anooj A. Patel, from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and colleagues assessed and compared the information quality of videos related to the two most performed aesthetic procedures -- botulinum toxin type A (Botox) and soft-tissue filler injections -- with that of websites. The most popular health information videos were identified by performing a YouTube search for "Botox" and "fillers" in July 2020. The quality was assessed, and quality scores were compared for different groups of video contributors and against websites.

A total of 720 measurements of quality were performed across 95 YouTube videos and 85 websites. The researchers found mean quality scores of 1.74/4 for the Journal of the American Medical Association ; 6.66/16 for Health on the Net; 40.0/80 for DISCERN criteria; and 39.1/100 for content. Compared with patient-based videos, physician, nonphysician health professionals, and other (news, magazine channels, and influencers) videos were all of higher quality. The mean DISCERN percentage score was 50.04 for videos, which was significantly less than the 55.46 percent for websites. A similar result was seen for the mean content scores (39.06 versus 60.76).

"Physicians should focus their online presence to video-based platforms, where the viewership may be larger, and seek to increase the quality of their content by using the criteria set forth by various health information quality instruments," the authors write.

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