A comparison of educational quality, reliability and accuracy of videos in laparoscopic nissen fundoplication surgery: YouTube® vs WebSurg®

INTRODUCTION: The objectives of this study were to assess the quality of data, reliability, scientific accuracy, and educational power of the videos published on YouTube® (YTb) and to compare two online video platforms, WebSurg® (WS) and YTb using novel scoring systems and laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication scoring system (LNFSS), which we modified from the recent literature considering pre-operative, perioperative, and post-operative evaluation of the laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication surgery.
METHODS: The first 100 videos were reviewed on YTb, an open-access video platform, using “laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication” as the search term. The quality of data, reliability, scientific accuracy, and educational power of the videos were assessed through novel scoring systems such as video power index (VPI), DISCERN questionnaire (DISCERNqs), Journal of American Medical Association Benchmark Criteria (JAMABC), global quality score (GQSc), and LNFSS. The first 20 videos in WS were compared to the 20 YTb videos with the highest LNFSS scores.
RESULTS: The first 100 YTb videos had an average VPI, DISCERNqs, JAMABC, GQSc, and LNFSS scores of 1034.9, 39.73, 2.06, 2.44, and 7.81, respectively. There was no significant difference between the first 20 WS videos and the 20 YTb videos in terms of video sources, time since upload, and number of views. WS videos had significantly more likes, fewer dislikes, and longer running times (p=0.007, p=0.002, and p=0.043, respectively). Significantly higher JAMABC scores were observed especially in WS videos (p<0.001). The VPI, DISCERNqs, GQSc, and LNFSS scores were evaluated between the two online video platforms, and no significant difference was found.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication videos on YTb are below the expected quality. When videos with the highest LNFSS scores were selected from YTb’s video database, no significant difference was found between WS and YTb in terms of educational quality. Thus, it is recommended to use LNFSS points to improve educational quality.