Most reviewed studies rated YouTube surgery education as inadequate
A review of English-language surgical education videos found that most studies judged their educational quality inadequate. Different rating tools were used, and the result counts studies rather than individual videos.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Most studies in this review concluded that YouTube surgical videos did not adequately educate patients according to their assessment tools. Several studies described professional sources as more useful. These conclusions concern rated educational quality; they do not directly show what viewers learned, how anxious they felt, or how their surgical outcomes changed.
Studies used different assessment instruments, including tools unique to individual studies. The abstract describes tool ratings rather than directly measured changes in patients' knowledge or anxiety.
What researchers found
Assessment-tool ratings of surgical education videos
Of 41 reviewed studies, 88% reached this conclusion using their rating tools. No common comparator or video observation period was reported; the percentage counts studies.
What the percentage counts
The headline percentage describes how many research articles reached an unfavorable conclusion. It does not measure the share of all YouTube videos that are inaccurate, or the share of viewers who failed to understand a procedure.
Tools shape the judgment
Researchers used several established rating tools and numerous study-specific instruments, sometimes together. Their conclusions therefore came from differing assessment approaches, which limits how directly one study's quality judgment can be compared with another's.
The original publication
Tools/instruments for assessing YouTube videos on surgical procedures for patient/consumer health education: a systematic review.
Pavuloori M, Lin A, Mi M
Front Public Health · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40709049
- Record checked
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