Investigation of COVID-19 vaccine hesitation in Turkey with YouTube analysis method

Aim: Nowadays many people search the internet to gain health information including Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines. YouTube™ is one of the most widely used websites. However, the quality and accuracy of health-related YouTube™ videos are still controversial. In this study we aimed to research the COVID-19 vaccine hesitation in Turkey by using YouTube analyses method. Material and Method: In this study, “COVID 19’’ OR “coronavirus’’ OR “SARSCOV 2’’ ‘and “vaccine’’ OR “vaccination’’ and “vaccine hesitancy’’ OR “vaccine hesitation’’ keywords were used to search videos on YouTube™. Firstly, non-Turkish videos and duplicate videos were excluded. Some details about videos such as duration (seconds), view count, number of comments, total likes/ dislikes were recorded. DISCERN (Quality Criteria for Consumer Health Information), JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) scores, and Video Power Index (VPI) values of the videos were calculated. Results: Most of the videos were uploaded by news agencies (48%). DISCERN scores of the videos were ranged between very poor and good. The mean JAMA score was found 2.9 that is accepted as a high score. There was a statistically significant difference in the VPI and JAMA scores among videos’ sources (p < 0,05). Conclusion: Vaccine hesitation can be reduced by increasing the quality of the video content prepared by academic and govermental organizations. The correct use of YouTube videos in community vaccination behaviors can play an important role in the spread of COVID 19 among the community and help control the pandemic.