O-22: Finding the 90-second anchor: defining the engagement sweet spot for pediatric diabetes (T1D) video education through Duration-Retention analysis
S Poluri, G Prakasam, V MuraliAbstract
Introduction
In T1D, education is safety-critical, yet science of how to deliver high-impact digital education remains difficult. As asynchronous video becomes a dominant modality, defining engagement thresholds is essential to prevent information loss in high-risk clinical tasks.
Objectives
Define evidence-based “engagement architecture” for T1D video education by identifying duration thresholds and content characteristics that optimize viewer retention.
Methods
Retrospective analysis of a diabetes-focused pediatric endo YouTube channel, (29,037 views and 727.8 watch hours) done. Videos ≥60 seconds were analyzed to ensure substantive instructional content. Engagement quantified using average view duration (AVD) and mean percentage viewed (MPV). Pearson correlation assessed relationship between video duration and retention. Subgroup analyses evaluated high-risk, high-utility topics including insulin pump training, nutrition, and diagnostic education.
Results
Mean AVD across channel was 1:29 (89 seconds). Significant negative correlation, observed between video duration and retention percentage (p<0.01), indicating increasing attrition with longer videos. However, technical instructional videos demonstrated high retention as outliers: insulin pump integration achieved 81.5% retention at 3:04, and dietary guidance maintained 73.0% retention at 4:38. A consistent “90-second anchor” emerged across all content, representing critical engagement threshold where the majority of viewers disengaged.
Conclusions
This identifies a novel, actionable engagement framework for T1D education: (1) a universal 90-second “safety anchor” for critical information delivery, and (2) a 3–4 minute “instructional extension zone” when caregivers sustain engagement for complex tasks. This challenges the paradigm that shorter is better, showing clinically relevant depth can overcome duration-related attrition. This framework has immediate implications for designing safer, scalable digital education.