Investigation of the Utility of Web-Based Videos About Varicose Veins

 Very few investigations and studies have been conducted on the provided information about varicose veins in web-based media worldwide. The present study aimed to investigate the categorization, characteristics, scientificity, and accuracy of such videos uploaded to YouTube.

 YouTube was searched during November 2019, and the search keywords were "varicose vein", "varicose veins", and "varicose veins of lower extremities". The videos collected by retrieval were classified as useful, partially useful, and completely useless based on their scientific content, contemporariness, and accuracy. The analysis was mainly performed on the data collected from videos that were categorized as useful.

 In total, 635 (75.6%) out of 840 collected videos were excluded. Most videos on the website were uploaded by medical staff (31%, n=64). Based on the results, among the videos included in the data analysis, videos uploaded by official agencies were viewed more times than those uploaded by others. In addition, most of the useful videos were uploaded by official institutions.

 Official institutions should provide more web-based videos with up-to-date, complete, and accurate information about varicose veins. Furthermore, effective search tools are needed for the identification of the videos uploaded by academic sources and institutions.