Fragen an "Dr. Google": Gesundheitsbezogene Online-Informationssuche als Folge der Einführung der HPV-Impfung in Österreich

Abstract

Infections with Human Papilloma Viruses (HPV) occur frequently and can elicit severe health-related consequences. Importantly, infection with HPV is the leading cause of cervical cancer. Based on this fact, national and international health policy decisionmakers and other health-related global players such as the WHO recommend HPV vaccination. It is for patients to decide. However, patient’s decision for or against vaccination should be based on well-informed reasoning processes. Patient’s information- seeking behavior is important in this regard. Especially search engines play an increasingly important role. The present study investigated online information seeking via the search engine Google (search terms: HPV vaccination, cervical cancer) between 2004 and 2016. Analysis indicate that query share volume increased after the introductory phase of the HPV vaccination. Furthermore, we found a covariation between query share volume and quantity of news coverage about HPV vaccinations and cervical cancer. We discuss the implications of our findings.