Quality evaluation of HPV vaccine-related online messages in China: a cross-sectional study

Since 2019, three types of HPV vaccine have been approved for use in mainland China. High quality messages are crucial for vaccine acceptance, but little is known about the online information quality concerning HPV vaccine in China. "HPV vaccine" and "cervical cancer vaccine" in the form of Chinese were used as keywords through search engines from personal computer (PC), portable mobile device (PMD), and WeChat Public Accounts in 2019. Readability, information content, as well as DISCERN scores were evaluated for each message included. Characteristics associated with quality indicators of the messages were also analyzed. A total of 294 messages from PC engines (104, 35%), PMD engines (128, 43%) and WeChat (62, 21%) were assessed. Most (269, 91%) messages required at least undergraduate readability level. The most frequently reported theme was HPV vaccine and its function (273, 93%), while the least was information regarding quality, safety and side effects (129, 44%). The frequency of messages with at least one error was 132 (45%). The median of sum DISCERN scores was 42 (IQR = 14), and only one (< 1%) message showed good DISCERN quality. Messages retrieved from PC engines and those with pictures were of better overall quality. The overall quality of HPV vaccine-related online messages in Chinese websites was not optimal. Government and health professionals should promote information quality construction to improve the status of HPV vaccination messages online.