YouTube as a Source of Knowledge for Childhood Glaucoma.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the quality and reliability of patient-targeted videos about childhood glaucoma on the YouTube platform.

METHODS

On March 1, 2024, a search was performed on YouTube (www.youtube.com) using the keywords "Infantile glaucoma," "childhood glaucoma," "paediatric glaucoma," "congenital glaucoma," "juvenile glaucoma," "buphthalmos," and "pediatric glaucoma." For each video, the time since the upload date (days), duration of the videos (minutes), number of likes, dislikes, and comments, the view ratio (number of views/time since the upload date), like ratio (likes × 100) /(likes+dislikes), view power index ([like ratio × view ratio] /100), and upload source (whether it was uploaded by medical organization versus uploaded by patients or commercial organization) were recorded. Two independent reviewers blindly evaluated the patient-targeted videos using DISCERN, the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), and the Global Quality Score (GQS) criteria.

RESULTS

Twenty-five videos were analyzed, and 19 (64%) of them were uploaded by physicians or medical organizations. The overall median (interquartile range) scores for DISCERN, JAMA, and GQS criteria were 2.5 (1.8 to 3.0), 2.5 (2.0 to 2.5), and 3.5 (2.5 to 4.0), respectively. No significant differences in scoring were noted between the two reviewers. The duration of the videos was significantly correlated with the GQS; however, no other video parameters were correlated to the quality scorings.

CONCLUSIONS

YouTube videos of patient education about childhood glaucoma were of moderate quality and reliability. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2025;62(2):116-121.].