Patient vs. physician narratives on refractive surgery in Turkish YouTube videos: a comparative reflexive thematic analysis

Correctable refractive errors are a major, preventable cause of visual impairment. Refractive surgery is widely promoted online, yet how Turkish-language YouTube videos frame benefits, risks, recovery, and long-term outcomes—and how this framing differs between patient and physician narrators—remains underexplored. We aimed to qualitatively compare patient- and physician-generated Turkish-language YouTube videos on refractive surgery and to describe audience engagement. We conducted a reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke) of 64 publicly available videos (29 patient, 35 physician) meeting predefined criteria (Turkish; primarily refractive surgery; ≥1 min; ≥1,000 views; ≥240p). Searches were performed on 15 July 2025 using predefined search strings. Videos were transcribed verbatim and inductively coded in NVivo by two researchers. Between-group differences in engagement metrics were assessed with Mann–Whitney U tests, with a one-video-per-channel sensitivity analysis to address potential clustering. Patient narratives foregrounded lived experience (decision-making, perioperative discomfort, postoperative visual fluctuations, and symptoms such as dry eye and glare/halos) and often raised concerns about commercialization. Physician narratives emphasized candidacy assessment, procedure selection, recovery timelines, and risk mitigation. In the one-video-per-channel sensitivity analysis (patient n = 27; physician n = 23), patient videos received more likes (median 300 [IQR 1,639] vs. 59 [269], p = 0.009) and showed a higher like-to-view ratio (0.013 [0.01] vs. 0.006 [0.01], p < 0.001), whereas view counts were not significantly different (24,000 [98,900] vs. 18,000 [48,500], p = 0.224). Turkish-language YouTube narratives share experiential touchpoints but diverge systematically in how risks, commercialization, and expectations are framed by patients versus physicians. Findings support the need for balanced, accurate, and discoverable patient-facing materials tailored to platform dynamics. © The Author(s) 2026.