Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Cancer
Date Submitted: Jun 13, 2023
Open Peer Review Period: Jun 13, 2023 - Aug 8, 2023
Date Accepted: May 31, 2024
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Health Information Seeking on the Internet Among Cancer Patients in the Single Institution in a Region Affected by the 2011 Fukushima Triple Disaster: A Cross-Sectional Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Little is known about health information collection via the Internet among cancer patients after disasters with particular focus on the presence or absence of cohabitants.
Objective:
This study aimed to assess extent of and devices used for health information collection and factors associated with health information collection on the Internet among the cancer patients in the area struck by the 2011 Fukushima triple disaster.
Methods:
We assessed all 404 (263 cancer and 141 non-cancer) patients who visited surgery department outpatient office at Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma City, from October 2016 to January 2017, using self-administered surveys. We descriptively analyzed the Internet and digital device use and their age-effects on information gathering. Also, we constructed multivariable logistic regression models for health information collection on the Internet to find its associated characteristics. In this analysis, the participants were stratified according to the presence or absence of cancer.
Results:
A proportion of the participants who collect health information on the Internet did not differ between cancer and non-cancer patients (19.0% vs. 17.4%, p=0.705). Peak usage of digital devices and internet health information gathering varied with age for both groups. In cancer patients, those living with family members tended to conduct health information collection via the Internet compared to those living alone, though a difference was not statistically significant. In addition, those using smartphones or tablets daily or those trusting institutional websites exhibited higher odds. Among non-cancer patients, unemployed individuals were less likely to gather health information via the Internet, while trust in both institutional and personal websites increased the odds.
Conclusions:
A proportion of the cancer and non-cancer patients who collected health information on the Internet was both limited. Younger age as well as digital device use and cohabitation with family members were important determinants on this behavior.
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.