Assessment of the educational content of youTube videos about chest radiograph interpretation

Abstract

Objectives: YouTube has become a commonly used education tool by medical students; however, the quality of the content varies and unreliable videos may be misleading. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the educational content of YouTube videos about chest radiograph interpretation. Patients and Methods: A search was made using the keywords ‘‘chest radiograph/chest x ray interpretation’’. Video characteristics and video content indices (content quality index [CQI], PACEMAN index and video information and quality index [VIQI]) were evaluated by two reviewers. Spearman correlation analysis and Mann Whitney U tests were performed. Results: In the study, 34 videos with a median of 11.34 (1.52-51.18) minutes were evaluated. The median scores for CPI, PACEMAN, VIQI and VPI were 9.00 (3.00-12.00); 14.50 (9.00-20.00); 4.00 (0.00-7.00) and 17.45 (0.08-803.61), respectively. CPI demonstrated a correlation with VIQI and PACEMAN scores (<0.001). A significant difference between PACEMAN (U=60.00, p=0.003) scores and a borderline significant difference between VIQI (U=87.50, p=0.050) scores were reported between low and high content quality groups. The characteristics of videos did not differ between two groups. Besides technical details, the evaluation of hila, pleura, the area below diaphragm, hidden areas and soft tissues were significantly lower in low content group. No standard method was used by instructors during interpretation. Conclusion: Videos assessing chest radiograph interpretation had a variety of content quality, did not follow a standardized method and certain aspects were significantly missed in videos with low content. Professional organizations should be creating multimedia content to prevent misleading of medical students.