Educational quality of ocular and orbital anatomy videos on YouTube: a student- and patient-centered evaluation

BACKGROUND: The YouTube platform is increasingly used by medical students and patients as a supplementary learning tool. However, the quality and educational value of YouTube videos remain underexplored. This study aimed to evaluate the quality, reliability, and educational utility of YouTube videos on eye and orbit anatomy. METHODS: A systematic YouTube search was conducted using keywords related to eye and orbit anatomy. Out of 270 videos initially identified, only 100 met the inclusion criteria. Two anatomists and two ophthalmologists independently evaluated the videos using validated tools. The anatomists applied the Anatomy Content Score for Ophthalmology (ACS-O), Global Quality Score for Students (GQS-S), modified DISCERN, and JAMA benchmarks, while the ophthalmologists assessed the patient-focused content using the Global Quality Score for Patients (GQS-P). Video popularity and engagement metrics were recorded. Inter-rater reliability was assessed using Kappa coefficient. Non-parametric tests assessed the correlations between instructional quality and YouTube engagement. RESULTS: The ACS-O revealed that 54% of the videos are useful for eye and orbit anatomy education. Notably, the percentage of useful videos was higher for student-focused (GQS-S) evaluation at 56% compared to patient-focused (GQS-P) evaluations at just 8%. Correlation analysis demonstrated a strong positive relationship between anatomical accuracy (ACS-O) and student education quality (GQS-S), while an inverse correlation between student and patient scores was observed. A positive correlation was identified between video duration and educational quality for students (ACS-O r = 0.576, GQS-S r = 0.525). CONCLUSIONS: YouTube offers valuable supplementary resources for eye and orbit anatomy education, but significant variability in quality highlights the need for systematic evaluation. Also, YouTube consistently falls short of providing adequate, high-quality information for patient education, revealing a significant gap in public health information equity.