Orthodontic Elastics: A Multivariable Analysis of YouTube[TM] Videos

Background/Purpose: Whether YouTube videos contain precise and adequate information on certain orthodontic procedures remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the content and quality of YouTube videos on orthodontic elastics and identify the predictors of high-level content YouTube videos. Materials and Methods: Two hundred YouTube videos were screened for eligibility, and after applying the inclusion criteria, 133 videos were excluded. Student's f-test was used to compare the characteristics, quality parameters, and total content of the low-level and high-level content videos. Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests were implemented to identify the source and content element differences across low-level and high-level content videos. Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to determine the relationship between the total content score, video information and quality index (VIQI), and YouTube characteristics. Stepwise linear multiple regressions with forward selection were used to test the association of the YouTube characteristics and VIQI with the total content score. Results: Among 67 included videos, only 19.4% of videos were classified as high-level content videos. High-level content videos had significantly higher mean number of likes (MD = 4041.7; SD = 4680.7; P- value=0.0068), VIQI score (MD = 4.17; SD = 4.87; P-value=0.0073), and total content score (MD = 4.04; SD = 1.23; P- value=