A Qualitative Content Analysis of YouTube Comments on Videos Retrieved via Search Terms from People Who Stutter and Their Relatives

Objectives: Social media platforms serve as interactive spaces for disseminating health-related information, including speech and language disorders such as stuttering. Prior studies have examined the quality of YouTube videos on stuttering and provided recommendations for their judicious use. This study aimed to conduct a qualitative content analysis of comments on YouTube videos about stuttering, accessed using search terms reported by People Who Stutter (PWS) and their families.Materials and Methods: To simulate YouTube search behavior of PWS or relatives, Zoom interviews were conducted with 28 Turkish-speaking participants, yielding eighteen search terms (e.g., "cure of stuttering," "stuttering in children"). Using an anonymous account, 1320 videos were identified from the first three pages; purposive sampling excluded commercial/duplicates/non-Turkish/irrelevant/disabled-comment videos, resulting in 194 videos. The comments underwent qualitative content analysis via MAXQDA: Functional words removed, frequency analysis for >50 occurrences, variations unified into codes, organized into themes.Results: A qualitative content analysis of comments from 194 YouTube videos yielded 48 codes organized under six overarching themes: definition of stuttering, individuals, interventions, listener reactions, settings, and psychological factors. The findings revealed a diverse range of comments encountered by PWS on YouTube, spanning from defining stuttering to soliciting assistance and sharing personal experiences.Conclusion: Speech-language pathologists and health institutions must monitor YouTube content to counteract misinformation and provide evidence-based guidance. Proactive engagement is essential to address the specific emotional needs of families, ensure accurate awareness, and protect clinical intervention processes from misleading claims within the diverse digital discourse surrounding stuttering experiences.