Do the Most Cited Web Sources Provide Proper Information on Influenza Vaccination?

Abstract

Objective: The Internet is increasingly preferred as a source of health-related information. However, several studies revealed deficiencies in the quality of web-based health information. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the content and design of influenza vaccine-related websites. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted using a search engine, Google Search, in the Turkish language. We identified 15 influenza-related search terms, and for each term, the top ten links on the first page were included in the study after removing duplicate links. Then, we evaluated identified websites in terms of content and design criteria. Results: Seventy-one links related to influenza vaccination were evaluated in our study. The mean content criteria score of all selected websites was 11.5 points. While academic websites received the highest contents point with 22.5, news and hospital sites remained under the average with 10.5 and 8.9 points, respectively. Thirty-eight per cent of the websites had aesthetic/content professionalism, and 77.5% included contact information. References were shown only in 14.1% of websites. The websites with higher design criteria did not have higher content points. Conclusion: The Internet remains a frequently referenced source of information. The accuracy of the information on health topics included on the Internet is important in terms of public health. Unfortunately, according to our study, the top websites giving information on influenza vaccination were not well designed and had insufficient content.