DOI: 10.1177/21565333261464961 ISSN: 2156-5333

Evaluating Online Information for Young Adult Cancer Symptoms: A Content Analysis of Top Google-Ranked Webpages

Natasha C. Allard, Heather Orom
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Background:

Among young adults (20–39), cancer is the fifth leading cause of death. Delayed diagnoses in this population are frequent, contributing to reduced survival and higher morbidity. Delays may be driven by individuals attributing symptoms as nonserious and failing to seek timely medical care. Google search is commonly used for health information seeking, but we do not know the current online symptom content quality that young adults may encounter.

Purpose:

We aimed to answer 1. What is the content quality of top-ranked webpages for common young adult cancer symptom searches? 2. Does quality differ by website type (e.g., academic/health care vs. for profit)?

Methods:

Using 18 young adult cancer symptoms as input into the SEMRush Keyword Magic Tool, we generated a list of the most common keyword searches and the top-ranked webpages (i.e., first three pages listed in Google output). We evaluated 162 pages on 9 quality metrics, including the JAMA benchmark criteria.

Results:

Two-thirds of pages (66.7%, n = 108) were written at less than a 9th-grade reading level, and three-quarters (72.8%, n = 118) provided actionable content about when to seek medical care for symptoms. However, only 13.6% ( n = 22) of pages included content framed for young adults. On average, pages met about half (2.33) of four JAMA criteria (authorship, disclosures, currency/up-to-date, and references).

Conclusion:

Academic/health and government organizations should devote resources to improving information about young adult cancer symptoms on their webpages and optimize these pages to appear higher in search result rankings.

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