Table 5.
Transparency of breast cancer websites
| Transparency | Yes for all | Yes for some | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authorship | |||
| Is there a disclosure of authorship? | 18(60%) | 0 | 12 (40%) |
| Is there a disclosure of the authors’ credentials? | 15(50%) | 0 | 15 (50%) |
| Is the author a healthcare professional/expert? | 14(47%) | 3(10%) | 13 (43%) |
| Are the credentials verifiable? | 23(76%) | 2(7%) | 5 (17%) |
| Are the author’s contact details provided? | 15(50%) | 0 | 15 (50%) |
| Attribution | |||
| Is the source of information clear? | 8 (27%) | 0 | 22 (73%) |
| Are references given? | 4 (13%) | 0 | 26 (87%) |
| Is opinion stated as such? | 5 (17%) | 0 | 25 (83%) |
| Are any working external links provided to scientific reference material/studies? | 3 (10%) | 2 (7%) | 25 (83%) |
| Currency | |||
| Is the creation date of each page given? | 18 (80%) | 0 | 12 (40%) |
| Is the date of the last update clearly stated? | 5 (17%) | 1 (3%) | 24 (80%) |
| Has the site been updated within the last 4 months? | 3 (10%) | 1 (3%) | 26 (87%) |
| Disclosure:commercial interests | |||
| If the site is commercial, is the source of funding clearly stated? | 7(23%) | 2(7%) | 21(70%) |
| Is the site selling a product? | 3(10%) | 0 | 27(90%) |
| Does the site carry adverts? | 10(33%) | 0 | 20(67%) |
| Does the site allow pop-ups? | 10(33%) | 0 | 20(67%) |
| Is the privacy policy easy to find and clear? | 10(33%) | 9 | 11(37%) |
| Is personal information disclosed to the site sold to other organizations? | 3(10%) | 0 | 27(90%) |