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. 2016 Oct 1;6(4):213–216. doi: 10.15171/hpp.2016.35

Table 1. Characteristics of 97 YouTube.com‏™ videos on multivitamin supplements and vitamins .

Upload source P value
Total (n=97) Nutrition, wellness, or fitness channel (n=31) Television/Internet (n=28) Consumer (n=17) Vitamin company channel/advertisement (n=12) Medical professional (n=9)
Mean number of views (SD) 263639.7 (940641.9) 306408.4 (697921.6) 405301.2 (1591739.4) 131345.1 (107589.8) 83888.6 (50242.4) 165159.2 (198868.7) 0.82
95% CI number of views 76448.1, 450831.4 60726.0, 552090.7 349097.2, 461505.2 80201.1, 182489.1 55461.8, 112315.4 35234.0, 295084.4
Range number of views 39312- 8507748 43775- 3933582 44431- 8507748 39327- 341330 42077-201528 39312-592300
Mean length in min (SD) 10.9 (16.9) 6.6 (3.0) 20.0 (26.9) 7.8 (11.7) 4.0 (3.2) 12.6 (14.5) 0.10
95% CI length in min 7.5, 14.3 5.6, 7.7 10.0, 29.9 2.2, 13.3 2.2, 5.8 3.1, 22.1
Range length in min 0.6-88.8 2.4-15.2 2.3-88.8 0.6-51.8 0.7-9.2 4.0-50.6
Content n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%)
Refers to studies/research 44 (45.4) 14 (45.2) 17 (60.7) 5 (29.4) 3 (25.0) 5 (55.6) 0.15
Mentions how much (units) to take 41 (42.3) 15 (48.2) 15 (53.6) 5 (29.4) 3 (25.0) 3 (33.3) 0.3
Mentions benefits 78 (80.4) 25 (80.6) 24 (85.7) 14 (82.4) 8 (66.7) 6 (66.7) 0.73
Advocates use of the mentioned supplement(s) 70 (72.2) 23 (74.2) 18 (64.3) 14 (82.4) 9 (75.0) 6 (66.7) 0.73
Mentions that it is safe 8 (8.2) 4 (12.9) 2 (7.1) 2 (11.8) 0.0) 0 (0.0) 0.54
Mentions risk of taking supplement 15 (15.5) 1 (3.2) 12 (42.9) 0 (0.0) 0 (0.0) 2 (22.2) <0.0001