JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is vital for improving patient outcomes in medical emergencies. Both laypersons and healthcare professionals often seek guidance on performing CPR. In today's digital age, many turn to easily accessible platforms like YouTube for practical skills.

Objective:

This study evaluates the didactic and content quality of CPR videos on YouTube using comprehensive checklists and investigates the association between the assigned quality scores and type of publisher, view count, and video rankings.

Methods:

Videos were included based on defined search terms and exclusion criteria. Two emergency physicians rated each video independently using validated checklists concerning content and didactic quality. Linear regression analysis was performed to assess the relationships between video quality scores and view counts, as well as video rankings.

Results:

Of the 250 videos identified, 74 met the inclusion criteria. On the content checklist, videos scored an average of 56.5%, and on the didactic checklist, they scored 66.6%. None achieved the maximum score. Videos from official medical institutions scored significantly higher in content quality compared to non-official sources (P = .04). Interestingly, video quality scores showed no association with video rankings or view counts.

Conclusions:

Our study highlights substantial variability in the didactic and content quality of CPR-related videos on YouTube, making it difficult to predict video quality based on likes or search rankings alone. Medical educators should offer clear recommendations for valuable videos, and the creation of new videos should adhere to didactic and content checklists to ensure accuracy and effectiveness.