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Video

Care Equity, Quality, and Safety

(A144) Quality and Reliability of YouTube Videos for Patient Education in Surgical Drains

Monday, October 13, 2025
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT
Location: OTO EXPO, Posters

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Quentin C. Durfee, BS

    Medical Student
    Penn State College of Medicine
    Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, United States

    • Co-Author(s)

  • HS

    Hayes Stancliff, BA

    Medical Student
    Penn State College of Medicine
    Hershey, PA, United States

    • Presenting Author(s)

  • Hanel W. Eberly, MD

    Resident
    Yale New Haven Hospital
    Fairfield, Connecticut, United States

  • Andrew V. Meci, MPH

    Medical Student
    Penn State College of Medicine
    Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States

    • Senior Author(s)

  • NG

    Neerav Goyal, MD MPH FACS

    Professor; Division Chief Head and Neck Surgery; Vice Chair Patient Safety and Quality
    Penn State Milton S Hershey Medical Center
    Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States

Disclosure(s):
Quentin C. Durfee, BS: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Hayes Stancliff, BA: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Hanel W. Eberly, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Andrew V. Meci, MPH: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Neerav Goyal, MD MPH FACS: No relevant relationships to disclose.


Introduction: YouTube is the predominant video-sharing platform on the internet and is frequently utilized by patients. However, to our knowledge there are no objective assessments of the quality of information on YouTube regarding surgical drain care post-surgery.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, YouTube was searched using the phrases “drain care”, “suction drains”, “surgical drain”, “JP drain”, “blake drain”, “penrose drain” and “closed suction drain”. The first 50 videos from each search were screened for inclusion. Videos were analyzed using Modified DISCERN (mDISCERN), Global Quality Score (GQS), and Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Benchmark Metrics. Statistical analysis of video metadata and expert-determined scores was performed using Kruskal Wallis tests, with post-hoc Dunn tests as applicable, were used to compare video characteristics.

Results: Three-hundred-seven videos with a combined 22,479,489 views were analyzed. Most videos were webinar/informational videos for patients (52.1%), published by third parties (39.7%) or health organizations (31.3%). The mean mDISCERN score was 13.9/25, with most videos being classified as “fair” (46.6%). The mean GQS was 2.98/5 and mean JAMA Benchmark was 3.17/4. Higher mDISCERN, GQS, and JAMA scores were significantly associated with patient target audience (p < 0.01) and webinars/informational videos for patients (p < 0.01). Videos made by verified users also were significantly associated with a higher popularity on VPI (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: The quality of YouTube videos may not be sufficient for patient education on surgical drains. A majority of the videos were created for patients (50.83%) but most were not made by healthcare providers (73.94%) or health organizations (68.4%). Lower transparency and reliability scores may give rise to concerns about bias. It is important to consider vetted educational or healthcare sources for patient education to avoid the utilization of inaccurate medical resources that may be utilized by patients.