YOUTUBE VIDEOS SPREADING MISINFORMATION

IN THE first study to evaluate YouTube videos on facial plastic surgery procedures, scientists have found that most are misleading marketing campaigns posted by non-qualified medical professionals.

Study the millions of people who turn to YouTube as a source for education on facial plastic surgery receive a false understanding that does not include the risks or alternative options.

Researchers evaluated 240 top-viewed videos with 160 million combined views that resulted from keyword searches for ‘blepharoplasty’, ‘eyelid surgery’, ‘dermal fillers’, ‘facial fillers’, ‘otoplasty’, ‘ear surgery’, ‘rhytidectomy’, ‘facelift’, ‘lip

augmentation’, ‘lip fillers’ and/or ‘nose job’.

The results revealed that the majority of videos did not include professionals qualified in the procedures portrayed, including 94 videos with no medical professional at all.

Seventy-two videos, featuring board-certified physicians, had relatively high DISCERN scores (quality of authenticity) and provided some valuable patient information. Patients and physicians who use YouTube for educational purposes should be aware that these videos can present biased information, be unbalanced when evaluating risks versus benefits and be unclear about the qualifications of the practitioner — BORIS PASKHOVER, assistant professor at Rutgers University, US.