Evaluating the educational quality and reliability of YouTube videos on red light therapy for eye diseases.

StudyLasers in medical science· Jun 2026

Elvin Çelenk, Işıl Merve Torun

RetinaStudyQ2IF 2.8

Only 17.5% of YouTube red light therapy eye videos were high-quality

Elvin Çelenk, Işıl Merve Torun

Lasers in medical science · Jun 2026

Purpose

To investigate the use of YouTube videos as an educational and informational resource regarding the use of red light therapy in eye diseases.

Results

checked against a formal quality checklist, most videos fell short

82.5%

Low-to-moderate qualit

17.5%

High quality

More results

Out of 110 YouTube videos reviewed, 53 were excluded based on predefined criteria.

The remaining 57 videos covered myopia (22.8%), dry eye (33.3%), diabetic retinopathy (12.3%), and age-related macular degeneration (31.6%).

Inter-rater agreement was high (mDISCERN ICC: 0.952; JAMA ICC: 0.923; Global Quality Score ICC: 0.890).

More results

A moderate positive correlation was found between the number of likes and the interaction index (r = 0.458, p < 0.01).

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Conclusion

More evidence-based and accessible video content is needed to support patient education.