YouTube Videos on Botulinum Toxin A for Wrinkles: A Useful Resource for Patient Education

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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Patients interested in botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) for wrinkles search for videos on YouTube, but little is known about the quality and reliability of the content. OBJECTIVE: The authors examined the quality, reliability, content, and target audience of YouTube videos on BTX for wrinkles. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the term “Botox” was searched on YouTube. Sixty relevant videos in English were independently categorized by 2 reviewers as useful informational, misleading informational, useful patient view, or misleading patient view. Disagreements were settled by a third reviewer. Videos were rated on the Global Quality Scale (GQS) (1 = poor, 5 = excellent). RESULTS: Sixty-three percent of the BTX YouTube videos were useful informational (GQS = 4.4 ± 0.7), 33% as useful patient view (GQS = 3.21 ± 1.2), 2% as misleading informational (GQS = 1), and 2% as misleading patient view (GQS = 2.5). CONCLUSION: The large number of useful videos, high reliability, and the wide range of content covered suggests that those who search for antiwrinkle BTX videos on YouTube are likely to view high-quality content. This suggests that YouTube may be a good source of videos to recommend for patients interested in BTX.

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