Evaluating the quality of HPV vaccine-related information on the Portuguese Internet

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is considered the second largest human carcinogen after tobacco and is responsible for 5% of all cancers, 10% of cancers in women, and 15% of all cancers in developing countries. Among these, cervical cancer is the most prevalent. An HPV vaccine has recently been developed...

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Main Authors: Michael Zarnowski Passos, Agnaldo Lopes da Silva-Filho, Wladmir Cardoso Brandão, Mariana Furtado Meinberg, Rogéria Andrade Werneck
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2022-11-01
Series:Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2022.2104571
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author Michael Zarnowski Passos
Agnaldo Lopes da Silva-Filho
Wladmir Cardoso Brandão
Mariana Furtado Meinberg
Rogéria Andrade Werneck
author_facet Michael Zarnowski Passos
Agnaldo Lopes da Silva-Filho
Wladmir Cardoso Brandão
Mariana Furtado Meinberg
Rogéria Andrade Werneck
author_sort Michael Zarnowski Passos
collection DOAJ
description Human papillomavirus (HPV) is considered the second largest human carcinogen after tobacco and is responsible for 5% of all cancers, 10% of cancers in women, and 15% of all cancers in developing countries. Among these, cervical cancer is the most prevalent. An HPV vaccine has recently been developed to provide primary protection against the viral infection. In 2014, Brazil’s National Immunization Program (Programa Nacional de Imunizações, PNI) started making a quadrivalent vaccine available to the public. However, after 2014, the vaccine coverage dropped and did not reach the PNI’s targets. Among other factors, this low uptake was due to the quality of information on the Internet. Using Google Trends, the main search terms used to search for vaccine-related information on the Internet were identified. The content of the identified websites was analyzed using the DISCERN instrument and their reach was determined using their page authority score. Most of the texts analyzed were not of high quality. The data that most commonly reach the lay public are from sites that lack scientific rigor. We found a weak correlation between the DISCERN and page authority scores. Based on our analysis, we inferred that the information that reaches the user is not always the most accurate and can lead to harmful decisions on vaccination. The content that reaches the user most easily is not always of sound quality. New analyses are important, especially on the impact of social networks that present even fewer criteria in publications and are more easily accessible.
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spelling doaj.art-60c0bc3d6a514ba9a55c165de7a4a6c72023-09-26T13:19:08ZengTaylor & Francis GroupHuman Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics2164-55152164-554X2022-11-0118610.1080/21645515.2022.21045712104571Evaluating the quality of HPV vaccine-related information on the Portuguese InternetMichael Zarnowski Passos0Agnaldo Lopes da Silva-Filho1Wladmir Cardoso Brandão2Mariana Furtado Meinberg3Rogéria Andrade Werneck4Universidade Estadual PaulistaUniversidade Estadual PaulistaComputer Science Department of Pontificia Universidade CatólicaUniversidade Federal de Minas GeraisUniversidade Federal de Minas GeraisHuman papillomavirus (HPV) is considered the second largest human carcinogen after tobacco and is responsible for 5% of all cancers, 10% of cancers in women, and 15% of all cancers in developing countries. Among these, cervical cancer is the most prevalent. An HPV vaccine has recently been developed to provide primary protection against the viral infection. In 2014, Brazil’s National Immunization Program (Programa Nacional de Imunizações, PNI) started making a quadrivalent vaccine available to the public. However, after 2014, the vaccine coverage dropped and did not reach the PNI’s targets. Among other factors, this low uptake was due to the quality of information on the Internet. Using Google Trends, the main search terms used to search for vaccine-related information on the Internet were identified. The content of the identified websites was analyzed using the DISCERN instrument and their reach was determined using their page authority score. Most of the texts analyzed were not of high quality. The data that most commonly reach the lay public are from sites that lack scientific rigor. We found a weak correlation between the DISCERN and page authority scores. Based on our analysis, we inferred that the information that reaches the user is not always the most accurate and can lead to harmful decisions on vaccination. The content that reaches the user most easily is not always of sound quality. New analyses are important, especially on the impact of social networks that present even fewer criteria in publications and are more easily accessible.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2022.2104571vaccinehpvinternetquality of informationonline
spellingShingle Michael Zarnowski Passos
Agnaldo Lopes da Silva-Filho
Wladmir Cardoso Brandão
Mariana Furtado Meinberg
Rogéria Andrade Werneck
Evaluating the quality of HPV vaccine-related information on the Portuguese Internet
Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics
vaccine
hpv
internet
quality of information
online
title Evaluating the quality of HPV vaccine-related information on the Portuguese Internet
title_full Evaluating the quality of HPV vaccine-related information on the Portuguese Internet
title_fullStr Evaluating the quality of HPV vaccine-related information on the Portuguese Internet
title_full_unstemmed Evaluating the quality of HPV vaccine-related information on the Portuguese Internet
title_short Evaluating the quality of HPV vaccine-related information on the Portuguese Internet
title_sort evaluating the quality of hpv vaccine related information on the portuguese internet
topic vaccine
hpv
internet
quality of information
online
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2022.2104571
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