Journal of Pain Research (May 2021)
YouTube as a Source of Information on Epidural Steroid Injection
Abstract
Min Cheol Chang,1 Donghwi Park2 1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, Daegu, Republic of Korea; 2Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Republic of KoreaCorrespondence: Donghwi ParkDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 877, Bangeojinsunghwando-ro, Dong-gu, Ulsan, 44033, Republic of KoreaTel +82-52-250-7222Fax +82-52-250-7228Email [email protected]: With the advance of the internet, social media platforms have become a major source of medical information. We assessed the reliability, quality, and usefulness of the most-viewed YouTube videos of epidural steroid injection (ESI).Methods: A search was conducted on YouTube on February 13, 2020, using the keywords “epidural injection,” “epidural steroid injection,” “epidural transforaminal injection,” and “epidural transforaminal steroid injection.” The top 50 most-viewed videos were assessed with a modified DISCERN scale (mDISCERN) and a Global Quality Scale (GQS). Further, the usefulness of information in each video was evaluated.Results: Only 22% of videos contained information with high reliability, and these were produced by hospitals or physicians. None of the videos provided by media organizations and patients were reliable. As for information quality, only 34% were moderate to excellent quality. Even of the videos produced by hospitals or physicians, approximately half were of generally poor or poor quality. Regarding the usefulness of information, although 76% were assessed to contain useful information, 8% had misleading information. Particularly, four of these videos contained misleading information, and three were provided by patients who experienced ESI.Conclusion: YouTube is a platform where medical information is actively shared and widespread. Here, we found that the reliability and quality of videos were low even when these were produced by hospitals or physicians. Further, the quality tended to be much lower when it was provided by media organizations or patients. Future efforts by physicians and professional societies to improve the reliability and quality of medical content are necessary.Keywords: epidural steroid injection, back pain, sciatica, online media, quality, social media
