Cervical cancer, human papillomavirus and vaccines: assessment of the information retrieved from general knowledge websites in Chile

- The Internet is a source for those who require information on a medical condition.
- Wikipedia is a reliable source of information about human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines.
- Not all the general websites are reliable about HPV issues.

ObjectivesCervical cancer is the most common gynaecologic malignancy worldwide and is the sixth cause of cancer death in Chile. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for most cervical cancers. Individuals seeking basic information about HPV frequently turn to health information websites. We hypothesized that some of their data may be inaccurate.Study designComparative analysis of information.MethodsWe analyze the content of highly accessed websites such as the Spanish version of Wikipedia and Yahoo Answers through the application of a questionnaire, as well as a website managed by the Chilean Ministry of Health (Minsal). The accuracy of each answer was confirmed by comparison with information retrieved from articles published by indexed journals.ResultsThe information provided by the Spanish version of Wikipedia was accurate; nevertheless a few omissions were detected. The quality of the information provided by the Spanish version of Yahoo Answers was inaccurate and confusing. The Minsal website lacked important information on several topics about HPV even though it is managed and endorsed by the government.ConclusionsWe suggest periodical content reviews to increase the completeness, transparency and correctness of the website.