Abstract
Introduction Cardiovascular disease has one of the highest mortality rates and continues to grow. Therefore, it is important for the medical community to get involved in widespread patient education efforts. As technology has steadily advanced, YouTube (Google LLC, Mountain View, California, United States) has become a popular source for patients to gather medical information. In this study, we aim to assess the quality of YouTube videos pertaining to coronary artery disease. Methods We searched the following key terms on June 20, 2023, using the view count filter: coronary artery disease, coronary artery disease treatment, cardiac catheterization, and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The top twenty videos for each keyword were recorded. After videos that were over 20 minutes, non-English, procedural videos without words, and duplicates were excluded, forty-five videos remained. Each video was assessed by three viewers using the DISCERN criteria (http://www.discern.org.uk). Numerical data was averaged into composite scores. Two-sided t-tests and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were used to compare mean ratings between groups. A Spearman correlation was done to compare each of the following terms to one another: overall quality of videos, total likes a video received, and total views. Results The mean ratings for coronary artery disease, coronary artery disease treatment, cardiac catheterization, and CABG were 2.30, 2.60, 2.05, and 2.92, respectively, with an overall mean of 2.42. The means between coronary artery disease and coronary artery disease treatment were significantly different (p adj = 0.01). The overall rating for videos with board-certified physicians was significantly higher than those without a board-certified physician (p < 0.001). There was a low correlation between likes and overall ratings (0.03) and views and overall ratings (-0.068). Conclusion The videos on coronary artery disease, coronary artery disease treatment, cardiac catheterization, and CABG had poor overall quality based on DISCERN criteria. The overall ratings from videos with board physicians are higher than those from non-physicians, suggesting that physicians should be encouraged to create content about important medical conditions. There was also a low correlation between the overall quality of a video and the likes and views, respectively, indicating a disconnect between what the public values and the actual value of a video.