Content and quality of consumer websites providing information about human papillomavirus infection in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: An environmental scan.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the content and quality of websites for consumers providing information about human papillomavirus (HPV) risks in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Methods: We conducted an environmental scan of websites for patients and the general public with information about HPV and SLE. We searched Google from inception to June 2023, using the terms "HPV" and "lupus". We included websites with information about HPV and SLE. Two reviewers appraised the websites and collected website characteristics, and rated various attributes: completeness and comprehensiveness, accuracy, technical elements, design and aesthetics, usability, readability, and accessibility.

Results: We identified 16 websites for analysis. Ten (62.5 %) were commercial websites One website provided complete and comprehensive information about HPV risk, screening, and vaccination in patients with SLE; 7 (44 %) websites provided only information about the HPV vaccine. Eight websites included risk of HPV infection, cervical cancer screening, and cervical cancer risk in patients with SLE. Seventy-five percent provided information based on clinical guidelines, textbooks, peer-reviewed papers or scientific publications while the remaining were based on expert opinions. All websites were considered to have adequate design and aesthetics and were easy to navigate. Only 1 (6 %) website had a 6th-grade reading level and the other had reading levels higher than that (not appropriate for consumer websites). The overall quality scores ranged from 32 to 51 (maximum 69).

Conclusion: Our findings showed that most websites for patients and the general public with information about HPV and SLE did not provide complete and comprehensive information about HPV.