Jared Rubin, Alexander Tham, Michael Allen, Nathaniel Mattera, Nathaniel Mercer, Isaac Dayan, Jay Zaifman, Paloma Gauthier, John G Kennedy
{"title":"YouTube as a Source of Patient Information on Ankle Sprains: A Quality and Reliability Analysis.","authors":"Jared Rubin, Alexander Tham, Michael Allen, Nathaniel Mattera, Nathaniel Mercer, Isaac Dayan, Jay Zaifman, Paloma Gauthier, John G Kennedy","doi":"10.1123/jsr.2025-0504","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Context: </strong>Although ankle sprains are among the most common musculoskeletal injuries, prior studies have not systematically reviewed the educational quality of related YouTube videos. We aimed to evaluate the characteristics, sources, and educational quality of YouTube videos addressing ankle sprains.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>Cross-sectional analysis of online material.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We performed 4 independent YouTube searches on ankle sprains and recorded the top 25 results for each search. After screening 100 videos, we included 73 total videos for final analysis. We evaluated video content using 3 validated tools: Global Quality Scale (GQS), the Patient-Friendliness Scale, and the Journal of the American Medical Association criteria.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 73 YouTube videos accumulated over 20.7 million views (mean: 283,546). Videos received 14.8 likes and 1.04 comments per 1000 views. Among included videos, the mean GQS score measured 3.75, Patient-Friendliness Scale score measured 3.48, and Journal of the American Medical Association score measured 1.19, indicating good accessibility, moderate educational quality, and poor transparency. Physicians produced the highest overall quality and transparency (GQS: 3.89, Journal of the American Medical Association: 1.50). Rehabilitation-focused content emerged as the most common theme (36%), maintaining good quality and accessibility (GQS: 3.77, Patient-Friendliness Scale: 4.23).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>YouTube offers wide access to ankle sprain information, yet video quality, accessibility, and transparency remain low. Physician-created and rehabilitation-focused videos demonstrated superior educational value, although highly viewed videos did not correspond with higher quality. These findings highlight the need for more reliable, high-quality ankle sprain content on online platforms.</p>","PeriodicalId":50041,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Sport Rehabilitation","volume":" ","pages":"1-6"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2026-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Sport Rehabilitation","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1123/jsr.2025-0504","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"REHABILITATION","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Context: Although ankle sprains are among the most common musculoskeletal injuries, prior studies have not systematically reviewed the educational quality of related YouTube videos. We aimed to evaluate the characteristics, sources, and educational quality of YouTube videos addressing ankle sprains.
Design: Cross-sectional analysis of online material.
Methods: We performed 4 independent YouTube searches on ankle sprains and recorded the top 25 results for each search. After screening 100 videos, we included 73 total videos for final analysis. We evaluated video content using 3 validated tools: Global Quality Scale (GQS), the Patient-Friendliness Scale, and the Journal of the American Medical Association criteria.
Results: A total of 73 YouTube videos accumulated over 20.7 million views (mean: 283,546). Videos received 14.8 likes and 1.04 comments per 1000 views. Among included videos, the mean GQS score measured 3.75, Patient-Friendliness Scale score measured 3.48, and Journal of the American Medical Association score measured 1.19, indicating good accessibility, moderate educational quality, and poor transparency. Physicians produced the highest overall quality and transparency (GQS: 3.89, Journal of the American Medical Association: 1.50). Rehabilitation-focused content emerged as the most common theme (36%), maintaining good quality and accessibility (GQS: 3.77, Patient-Friendliness Scale: 4.23).
Conclusion: YouTube offers wide access to ankle sprain information, yet video quality, accessibility, and transparency remain low. Physician-created and rehabilitation-focused videos demonstrated superior educational value, although highly viewed videos did not correspond with higher quality. These findings highlight the need for more reliable, high-quality ankle sprain content on online platforms.
期刊介绍：
The Journal of Sport Rehabilitation (JSR) is your source for the latest peer-reviewed research in the field of sport rehabilitation. All members of the sports-medicine team will benefit from the wealth of important information in each issue. JSR is completely devoted to the rehabilitation of sport and exercise injuries, regardless of the age, gender, sport ability, level of fitness, or health status of the participant.
JSR publishes peer-reviewed original research, systematic reviews/meta-analyses, critically appraised topics (CATs), case studies/series, and technical reports that directly affect the management and rehabilitation of injuries incurred during sport-related activities, irrespective of the individual’s age, gender, sport ability, level of fitness, or health status. The journal is intended to provide an international, multidisciplinary forum to serve the needs of all members of the sports medicine team, including athletic trainers/therapists, sport physical therapists/physiotherapists, sports medicine physicians, and other health care and medical professionals.
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