Assessment of the consistency between YouTube videos and scientific evidence on paediatric myopia control
- 1Department of Optics and Optometry, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), Terrassa, Spain
- 2Centre for Sensors, Instruments and Systems Development (CD-6), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC), Terrassa, Spain
- 3Department of Optics, Clinical and Laboratory Applications of Research in Optometry, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
Abstract
Background: Myopia is a public health concern, and its prevalence is estimated to increase in the near future. Multiple myopia control strategies have been developed to slow myopia progression and reduce potential ocular alterations. Public interest in myopia and its management has increased, with parents seeking information on myopia from available sources, such as the internet. The goal of this study was to systematically evaluate the quality, reliability, and educational value of YouTube videos for myopia control in children and their alignment with current scientific evidence and clinical guidelines. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on YouTube in February 2025 using four primary keywords related to myopia control in children, both in English and Spanish. The first 50 videos for each keyword were screened; of the resulting 400 videos, 235 met the inclusion criteria. Three optometrists independently assessed the videos via the modified DISCERN (mDISCERN), the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks, and the Global Quality Score (GQS). Interobserver reliability was evaluated using two-way mixed-effects intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) with absolute agreement. Quantitative engagement metrics (views, likes, dislikes, the view ratio, and the video power index (VPI) were also recorded. Non-parametric tests were used for subgroup comparisons by language, topic, source, and presenter gender, with Bonferroni adjustments applied for multiple comparisons. Results: Among the 235 videos analysed, 52.8% were in English, and 47.2% were in Spanish. Overall video quality and reliability were highly variable. Interobserver reliability across the entire dataset was good for GQS (ICC = 0.832) and mDISCERN (ICC = 0.750), but poor for JAMA (ICC = 0.447). Good interevaluator agreement was maintained across all tools for Spanish videos (ICC range: 0.701–0.803), whereas English videos showed lower agreement for mDISCERN (ICC = 0.768) and JAMA (ICC = 0.536), but excellent agreement for GQS (ICC = 0.849). Spanish-language videos scored significantly higher on mDISCERN (P = 0.026), while JAMA and GQS scores showed no significant differences between languages after adjusting for multiple comparisons. Videos from universities or professional organisations were of higher quality and reliability but constituted a minority of the sample. The presenter’s gender did not impact quality or engagement. English-language videos had higher view ratios and VPI values, indicating greater visibility, although not necessarily higher scientific quality. Conclusions: YouTube provides a wide range of content on pediatric myopia control, but its overall quality, realiability and scientific alignment are inconsistent. The use of standardized evaluation tools reveals significant differences in subjective assessment depending on the scoring instrument and video language. The increased participation of healthcare professionals in creating evidence-based videos is needed to increase public health literacy.
Related
- Systematic analysis of the scientific quality, reliability, and educational value of Vaginal Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery videos on YouTube.
- Common questions and misconceptions about diets: what does the scientific evidence really show?
- A qualitative assessment of learner experiences with a novel Paediatric Emergency Medicine curriculum in Kenya
- Assessment of Sleep Quality and Modifiable Disruptors in Postoperative Paediatric Patients: A Clinical Audit.
- Metformin-associated diarrhea in FAERS: a structured pharmacovigilance study with long-term temporal consistency assessment
BibTeX
@article{perezmana2026assessment,
title = {{Assessment of the consistency between YouTube videos and scientific evidence on paediatric myopia control}},
author = {Luis Pérez-Mañá and Carolina Ortiz and Bernat Sunyer-Grau and Silvia Alonso and Marc Argilés},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0357587},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357587},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Assessment of the consistency between YouTube videos and scientific evidence on paediatric myopia control
AU - Luis Pérez-Mañá
AU - Carolina Ortiz
AU - Bernat Sunyer-Grau
AU - Silvia Alonso
AU - Marc Argilés
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/23
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0357587
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0357587
AB - Background: Myopia is a public health concern, and its prevalence is estimated to increase in the near future. Multiple myopia control strategies have been developed to slow myopia progression and reduce potential ocular alterations. Public interest in myopia and its management has increased, with parents seeking information on myopia from available sources, such as the internet. The goal of this study was to systematically evaluate the quality, reliability, and educational value of YouTube videos for myopia control in children and their alignment with current scientific evidence and clinical guidelines. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted on YouTube in February 2025 using four primary keywords related to myopia control in children, both in English and Spanish. The first 50 videos for each keyword were screened; of the resulting 400 videos, 235 met the inclusion criteria. Three optometrists independently assessed the videos via the modified DISCERN (mDISCERN), the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmarks, and the Global Quality Score (GQS). Interobserver reliability was evaluated using two-way mixed-effects intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) with absolute agreement. Quantitative engagement metrics (views, likes, dislikes, the view ratio, and the video power index (VPI) were also recorded. Non-parametric tests were used for subgroup comparisons by language, topic, source, and presenter gender, with Bonferroni adjustments applied for multiple comparisons. Results: Among the 235 videos analysed, 52.8% were in English, and 47.2% were in Spanish. Overall video quality and reliability were highly variable. Interobserver reliability across the entire dataset was good for GQS (ICC = 0.832) and mDISCERN (ICC = 0.750), but poor for JAMA (ICC = 0.447). Good interevaluator agreement was maintained across all tools for Spanish videos (ICC range: 0.701–0.803), whereas English videos showed lower agreement for mDISCERN (ICC = 0.768) and JAMA (ICC = 0.536), but excellent agreement for GQS (ICC = 0.849). Spanish-language videos scored significantly higher on mDISCERN (P = 0.026), while JAMA and GQS scores showed no significant differences between languages after adjusting for multiple comparisons. Videos from universities or professional organisations were of higher quality and reliability but constituted a minority of the sample. The presenter’s gender did not impact quality or engagement. English-language videos had higher view ratios and VPI values, indicating greater visibility, although not necessarily higher scientific quality. Conclusions: YouTube provides a wide range of content on pediatric myopia control, but its overall quality, realiability and scientific alignment are inconsistent. The use of standardized evaluation tools reveals significant differences in subjective assessment depending on the scoring instrument and video language. The increased participation of healthcare professionals in creating evidence-based videos is needed to increase public health literacy.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -