Patients With Cancer Searching for Cancer- or Health-Specific Web-Based Information: Performance Test Analysis

'Just Google it'-A scoping review of online mental health resources for survivors of breast cancer

OBJECTIVE

As the Internet is a ubiquitous resource for information, we aimed to replicate a patient's Google search to identify and assess the quality of online mental health/wellbeing materials available to support women living with or beyond cancer.

METHODS

A Google search was performed using a key term search strategy including search strings 'cancer', 'wellbeing', 'distress' and 'resources' to identify online resources of diverse formats (i.e., factsheet, website, program, course, video, webinar, e-book, podcast). The quality evaluation scoring tool (QUEST) was used to analyse the quality of health information provided.

RESULTS

The search strategy resulted in 283 resources, 117 of which met inclusion criteria across four countries: Australia, USA, UK, and Canada. Websites and factsheets were primarily retrieved. The average QUEST score was 10.04 (highest possible score is 28), indicating low quality, with 92.31% of resources lacking references to sources of information.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data indicated a lack of evidence-based support resources and engaging information available online for people living with or beyond cancer. The majority of online resources were non-specific to breast cancer and lacked authorship and attribution.

Online description of services provided in adult survivorship programs across U.S. accredited cancer centers

PURPOSE

The American College of Surgeons Standard 4.8 requires an institution to implement a survivorship program to become a Commission on Cancer (CoC)-accredited cancer center. The online information offered by these cancer centers can help educate patients and their caregivers about available services. We assessed the content of survivorship program websites of CoC-accredited cancer centers in the United States.

METHODS

Of the 1245 CoC-accredited centers for adults, we sampled 325 institutions (26%) based proportionately on the 2019 new cancer cases by state. Website pages of the institutions' survivorship programs were assessed for information and services offered using the COC Standard 4.8. We included programs for adult survivors of adult- and childhood-onset cancers.

RESULTS

54.5% of the cancer centers did not have a survivorship program website. Of the 189 included programs, most were aimed at adult survivors in general, rather than those with specific cancer types. On average, five essential CoC-recommended services were described, most commonly nutrition, care plans, and psychology services. The least mentioned services were genetic counseling, fertility, and smoking cessation. Most programs described services offered to patients who had completed treatment, while 7.4% of described services for those with metastatic disease.

CONCLUSION

More than half of CoC-accredited programs did have information about cancer survivorship programs on their websites and when included, had variable and limited description of services.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS

Our study provides an overview of online cancer survivorship services and offers a methodology that may be used by cancer centers to review, expand, and improve the information described on their websites.

Factors influencing the e-health literacy in cancer patients: a systematic review

PURPOSE

As Internet technology evolves, electronic health (e-health) literacy gradually becomes a key factor in healthy behaviors and health-related decision-making. However, little is known about the influencing factors of e-health literacy among cancer survivors. Thus, the objective of this study was to systematically review the status quo, assessment tools, and influencing factors of e-health literacy in cancer patients.

METHODS

We conducted a comprehensive search in several databases, including PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, Chinese BioMedical Literature Database, and Chinese Science and Technology Journal Database between January 2000 and December 2021.

RESULTS

A total of nine articles were included in this review, all of which were cross-sectional studies. Following the JBI critical appraisal tool, seven of them were rated as high quality. The e-Health Literacy Scale (eHEALS) was the most commonly used measurement for e-health literacy in cancer patients. The level of e-health literacy in cancer survivors was not high, which was associated with a variable of factors. The behavioral model of health services use was adopted to summarize related influencing factors. From an individual's perspective, predisposing characteristics and enabling resources were the most significant factors, without factors related to needs characteristics.

CONCLUSION

The study has identified the influencing factors of e-health literacy among cancer survivors, including age, gender, domicile place, education level, information-seeking behavior, and social support. In the future, e-health literacy lectures need to be carried out for elderly cancer patients, especially those who live in rural areas and have no access to the Internet. Families and friends of cancer survivors should also be encouraged to offer them more support.

IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS

These findings of this review provide novel insights for both family members and medical workers to improve e-health literacy in cancer patients. Further research is required to develop easy-to-use electronic health information acquisition devices and establish propagable e-health literacy intervention programs for cancer survivors.

Assessing the Quality of Online Health Information and Trend Data for Colorectal Malignancies

INTRODUCTION

Patients often refer to the internet to learn about different health conditions. This study aims to assess the landscape of online health information on malignant colorectal conditions, focusing on the popularity, quantity, and quality of internet resources pertaining to these conditions. This information can be used as a guide for surgeons to supplement patient information at the time of surgical evaluation and to help design optimal online health information.

METHODS

The terms "colon cancer," "rectal cancer," "anal cancer," and "colorectal cancer" were searched using the Google search engine. The number of search results or "hits" obtained per search term was recorded and the first 50 websites for each search term were reviewed. Included websites did not have a password requirement, were in English, and were free. Quality assessments were performed using the DISCERN instrument, and mean DISCERN scores were compared using analysis of variance. The popularity of each search term was determined using Google Trends, which generates a relative search volume score.

RESULTS

A total of 431 million hits were obtained for the term "colon cancer," 72.5 million for "rectal cancer," 244 million for "anal cancer," and 194 million for "colorectal cancer." Mean DISCERN scores for reviewed websites ranged between 39.7 and 40.6, and were thus within the "fair" category. There were no significant differences in mean DISCERN scores across search terms (P = 0.5). Colon cancer had the highest relative search volume score (61.8), followed by colorectal cancer (43.4/100), rectal cancer (42.5/100), and anal cancer (41.7/100).

CONCLUSIONS

Although there is a large amount of online information on malignant colorectal conditions, the quality of the available information is inadequate. Clinician guidance to resources aimed at higher quality from guidance of the DISCERN tool may be of value for patient education.