Background: De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis was defined as stenosing tenosynovitis of the first dorsal compartment by Swiss surgeon Fritz De Quervain in 1895. It is a disease characterized by pain and tenderness on the radial dorsum of the wrist. The tendons of the Abductor Pollisis Longus (APL) and Extensor Pollisis Brevis (EPL), which are responsible for the function of the thumb, are strained as a result of repetitive movements while passing under the swollen and thickened extensor retinaculum. It is usually seen in women between the ages of 30-50, and in individuals who use the wrist in repetitive and strenuous activities in their daily life activities. It is also common in the late stages of pregnancy and after birth. One of the best indicators of an individual’s health status is health literacy. With the increase in internet access, patients have turned to online sources as a source of information. The use of digital technologies to manage patient conditions has become common in the healthcare field. YouTube is a source that patients prefer to obtain information, with more than one billion users accessing it annually. However, it is a platform where there is no peer review and regulation, and where incorrect information is not removed.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality, reliability and educational content of YouTube videos related to De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis.

Methods: A search was made by typing the terms “De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis”, “De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis Exercise”, “Mommy’s Thumb” into the YouTube search engine. The first 50 videos were evaluated. Videos with less than 1000 views and less than 120 seconds were excluded. Title, duration, number of views, number of days since upload, number of likes, number of subscribers, number of comments, video source and video content data were recorded. Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) was used to assess the reliability of each video, and Global Quality Score (GQS), Modified DISCERN, and De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis-specific score (DQT-SS) were used to assess its quality.

Results: When the sources of the videos were evaluated, it was seen that 33.3% were uploaded by doctors, 47.1% by non-physician health professionals, and 19.6% by websites. In the content analysis, it was determined that 15.7% of the videos focused on exercise training and rehabilitation, 25.5% on disease-specific information, and 58.8% on conservative treatment. When the video performance was evaluated according to the Video Power Index (VPI) criterion, it was determined that 51.0% of the videos showed low performance and 49.0% high performance. According to the JAMA scoring, 9.8% of the videos were classified as low reliability, 72.5% as medium reliability, and 17.6% as high reliability. The GQS evaluation showed that 51.0% of the videos had low quality, 37.3% as medium quality, and 11.8% as high quality. Similarly, 52.0% low, 38.0% moderate and 10.0% high confidence levels were reported according to mDISCERN criteria. According to De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis Specific Score (DQTSS), 25.5% of the videos showed low, 60.8% moderate and 13.7% high success.

Conclusion: About half of the videos shared on YouTube about De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis are of low quality and reliability. Shows that videos created by doctors and non-physician healthcare professionals may have higher quality rates. In order to access higher quality and more reliable information, users should be selective about the content, source, number of views, number of likes, number of subscribers and number of comments of the videos they watch.

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[2] Li HO, Bailey A, Huynh D, Chan J. YouTube as a source of information on COVID-19: a pandemic of misinformation? BMJ Glob Health. 2020 May;5(5):e002604. doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002604. PMID: 32409327; PMCID: PMC7228483.

Acknowledgements: NIL.

Disclosure of Interests: None declared.

© The Authors 2025. This abstract is an open access article published in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ). Neither EULAR nor the publisher make any representation as to the accuracy of the content. The authors are solely responsible for the content in their abstract including accuracy of the facts, statements, results, conclusion, citing resources etc.