Currently submitted to: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Feb 3, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Feb 4, 2026 - Apr 1, 2026
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Exploring breast cancer patients’ digital health information behaviours across the illness trajectory: a qualitative study informed by Uncertainty Management Theory
ABSTRACT
Background:
Background:
The digital transformation of healthcare is reshaping how breast cancer patients access and use information, yet little is known about how their digital information behaviours evolve across the illness trajectory.
Objective:
Objective:
To explore stage-specific digital health information behaviours and the cognitive, emotional and social factors shaping decision-making.
Methods:
Design: Descriptive qualitative study informed by Uncertainty Management Theory. Setting: A tertiary hospital in Shanghai, China. Participants: Fifteen women with breast cancer.
Methods:
Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with purposive sampling across diagnostic, treatment and recovery phases; data were analysed using directed and inductive content analysis within a UMT framework.
Results:
Results:
Five themes emerged, highlighting shifts from passive reception to active screening, complementary use of search engines, social media and AI tools, and the role of trust, emotion and social context in information acceptance or rejection.
Conclusions:
Conclusions:
Digital health information behaviours are dynamic and stage-specific, suggesting phase-tailored, nurse-led digital support.
Citation
Request queued. Please wait while the file is being generated. It may take some time.
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.