Spread of Misinformation? Quality of COVID-19 Resources for Cancer Patients

Purpose/Objective(s)

Cancer patients are increasingly using the Internet to educate themselves about COVID-19. Recent studies have shown that cancer patients are at risk of more serious outcomes of COVID-19 compared to the general population. Some cancer treatments such as chemotherapy can impact the immune system, which may make COVID-19 infection more dangerous. This study looks to systematically examine the quality of web resources available for cancer patients about COVID-19.

Materials/Methods

The term “COVID-19 Risk and Cancer” was searched in Google and metasearch engines Yippy and Dogpile. URLs were recorded from each search and inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. The results from the 3 lists were combined to come up with a final list based on overall average rank order. This list was analyzed using a previously validated structured rating tool with respect to accountability, currency, interactivity, readability, and content coverage and accuracy.

Results

398 websites were identified prior (this includes overlap between the three search sites used), 37 websites were included for analysis. Out of 37 websites, only 43% disclosed authorship and 24% cited sources. Most websites (76%) revealed date of creation, and 32% were updated less than 3 months before the date of search. 68% of websites enabled questions to be sent to the author or webmaster regarding COVID-19 risk queries. 54% of websites had high school readability (8.0-12.0), 43% were at university level or above, and only one website demonstrated the recommended reading level for general public (below 8.0). Topics most commonly discussed were special consideration for cancer patients in COVID-19 (84%), COVID-19 risk factors (73%), and infection prevention (62%), while topics least covered were COVID-19 incidence/prevalence (5%), prognosis (8%), and treatment (16%).

Conclusion

There is some COVID-19 in cancer risk information available online, but quality is variable. The total number of sites with relevant information related to COVID-19 and cancer was relatively low and many sites lacked markers for accountability. Some information may not be up to date and content may be difficult to comprehend. Healthcare professionals may direct cancer patients to the most reliable online resources about COVID-19 and cancer shown in this study. In addition, this may be helpful to consider when designing comprehensive web resources regarding COVID-19.