Quality of colorectal cancer health information on the internet : a multilingual evaluation of the Google Search Engine.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND: In recent years, the Internet has become an accessible, convenient and trusted source of health information for patients and clinicians. Over 80% of patients report using the Internet to seek health-care associated material. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, with an estimated incidence of 134,490 new cases and 49,190 deaths in 2016. Despite the increase of the Internet being used as an information platform, the quality of information on colorectal cancer found on the Internet is considered variable. Currently, there is no comprehensible data analysis to support evaluation of quality. We compared colorectal cancer health information on the Internet across four Western Languages and a comparative analysis of website sponsors. METHODS: World Health Organization Health on the Net (HON) principles were utilized to assess quality website information. Ten keywords related to colorectal cancer were used in the Google search engine in English, French, Spanish and German. The first 150 websites in each languages had their HON principles and sponsorship determined. RESUTLS: A total of 6000 websites were analyzed. The proportion of HON-accredited websites for individual search words ranged between 8.3-19.5%. The first 50 searched websites were more likely to be HON accredited in comparison to the 51-100 and 101-150 subgroups. French websites searched were more likely to be HON accredited, with German websites being the least (19.3% vs 7.4%). Website sponsorship varied, with the highest source coming from government/educational and commercial bodies. CONCLUSION: Colorectal cancer health information on the Internet is not validated. A significant proportion of websites were commercially sponsored. There is an urgent need to design and develop strategies and solutions to promote unbiased, reliable health information to patients.