EVALUATION OF ARABIC YOUTUBE™ VIDEOS AS A SOURCE OF INFORMATION ABOUT SPACE MAINTAINERS

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the content of Arabic YouTube videos as a source of information regarding space maintainers (SM).

Methodology: The terms (space maintainer, space maintainer for teeth, and space maintainer for children) in Arabic were used to search YouTube™. The author initially screened 78 videos representing all Arabic videos. After exclusion, the demographic data of 45 videos were recorded, and two independent evaluators analysed the videos and scored them from zero to seven, to calculate the usefulness score. Based on the total score, videos were categorized as inadequate or acceptable quality videos. Collected data were entered in SAS 9.4 software for data analysis.

Results: The mean usefulness content score of the videos was 3.11±1.15, and the majority (77.78%) the videos were considered as inadequate-quality videos. The content score of videos was only positively correlated with video length (r = 0.393; p = 0.008). The quality of the videos was not significantly associated with, the source of uploading, the country of origin, or the presence of representative pictures of SM.

Conclusion: The study concluded that, Arabic YouTube videos regarding SM lack in quality. Most of the videos provide only basic knowledge covering the benefits, timings, and definition of a SM. Professional organizations should take the lead and provide high-quality content videos that can be useful for the patients and professionals.