Evaluation of the reliability, utility, and quality of the information in cardiopulmonary resuscitation videos shared on Open access video sharing platform YouTube

The internet is a widely used source for obtaining medical information both by patients and physicians. YouTube is an essential source of information that may be a useful tool to inform the public and may improve the learning experience if used adequately. In this study, we aimed to estimate the quality and accuracy of videos about cardiopulmonary resuscitation videos aired on YouTube, which is the most popular video platform of the online world. We included the first 100 videos, in English, returned by the YouTube search engine in response to “cardiopulmonary resuscitation” keyword query to the study. The popularity of the videos was evaluated with an index called the video power index. The educational quality, accuracy, and transparency of the visual content were measured using the DISCERN questionnaire (DISCERN), Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA-BC) benchmark criteria, and Global Quality Score (GQS). The technical quality was measured by the Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Scoring System (CPR-SS), which was utilized by three bariatric surgeons. The source in 7% of the videos was medical doctors. The content in 89% of the videos was cardiopulmonary resuscitation technique. According to sources, videos uploaded by physicians had significantly higher quality, transparency, educational and technical value. Unlike, videos uploaded by physicians had a lower video power index than videos uploaded by non-medical professionals. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation technique videos had significantly higher quality, transparency, educational and technical value. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation technique videos also had higher popularity scores than “information or lecture” videos. Also, negative correlations were found between the (popularity index and transparency, education and technical quality scores. Online information on cardiopulmonary resuscitation is of low quality, and its contents are of unknown source and accuracy. However, the educational potential of the online video platform, YouTube, cannot be neglected.