Content Analysis of Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine-Related Videos on YouTube in Japan

This study aimed to describe the YouTube content on Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccines by analyzing the related Japanese videos in context of the account characteristics, attitude toward the vaccine, and thumbnail characteristics. Relevant videos with keywords “HPV vaccine” and “cervical cancer vaccine” uploaded before November 11, 2021 were collected and coded. The findings showed that as of November 11, 2021, positive and negative attitude videos regarding HPV vaccines accounted for approximately 44% of Japanese YouTube videos. In the year 2013, an increase in negative videos was observed, while from 2019 onwards, majority of the videos uploaded showed positive attitudes toward the vaccine. Videos with negative tones generally used the term "cervical cancer vaccines.” Most negative videos were uploaded by individual accounts, whereas all videos uploaded by medical workers were positive or neutral. Only four videos mentioned side effect compensation. The most frequently used thumbnails were photographs of people who appeared in the videos. Compared to English YouTube, there are fewer anti-vaccine videos in Japan, and there is also a lack of videos uploaded by credible authorities. Future research focusing on other platforms and the accuracy of video content should be included.