Viewer interaction with YouTube videos about hysterectomy recovery

Abstract

We aim to evaluate hysterectomy-recovery related videos on YouTube. This cross-sectional study analyzed videos available through the YouTube interface. We calculated the views-per-day and interactions (comments, “thumbs up or down”) per 1,000 views for relevant videos. The publishers were categorized into patients, physicians, hospitals, media, industry, nonprofit, government and “other”. Video characteristics were compared between these categories using non-parametric tests. We analyzed 2,092 YouTube videos related to hysterectomy recovery; 959 relevant videos published from August 30, 2006 to June 16, 2017 were included. The largest number of relevant videos were published by patients (48.6%), followed by physicians (15.8%), hospitals (12.7%), media (7.8%), and industry (7.6%). Views per day were similar between videos published by patients and physicians (median 2.1, vs median 2.6, p = 0.31). Videos published by patients had more interaction in the form of “thumbs up” votes (median 8.6/1,000 views, p<0.01) and comments (median 2.7/1,000 views, p<0.01) as compared to other categories. Almost half of the hysterectomy videos on YouTube are posted by patients and have more viewer interaction than other categories. Physicians should consider partnering with patient advocates to improve viewer interaction.

Keywords

• youtube
• hysterectomy
• online video
• viewer reaction
• social media engagement