Cargando…

The Past and Present of Breast Cancer Resources: A Re-evaluation of the Quality of Online Resources After Eight Years

Background and objective The internet has become a major resource of information for cancer patients. However, the quality of these resources is variable, and a better understanding is needed to guide physicians as to how to best support patients in their online searches. We previously evaluated the...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Killow, Veronika, Lin, Julia, Ingledew, Paris-Ann
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cureus 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9481420/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36134068
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.28120
_version_ 1784791263233441792
author Killow, Veronika
Lin, Julia
Ingledew, Paris-Ann
author_facet Killow, Veronika
Lin, Julia
Ingledew, Paris-Ann
author_sort Killow, Veronika
collection PubMed
description Background and objective The internet has become a major resource of information for cancer patients. However, the quality of these resources is variable, and a better understanding is needed to guide physicians as to how to best support patients in their online searches. We previously evaluated the quality of online breast cancer resources in 2011. Nearly a decade later, we aimed to assess the present quality of online breast cancer-related information and to compare our current analysis with data collected in 2011. Methods A list of 100 breast cancer websites was systematically compiled using meta-search engines Yippy and Dogpile and the search engine Google using the search term “breast cancer”. Content accuracy and quality markers, including authorship, attribu­tion, currency, site organization, and readability were assessed by using a previously validated standardized rating tool. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Fisher’s exact test. The same strategy was used in both 2011 and 2019. Results When comparing 2011 data to the current one, 27% of websites had been updated in the previous two years in 2011 compared to 65% in 2019 (p<0.00001). Both data sets remained similar in terms of website disclosures and objectivity. Only 30% of websites analyzed in 2019 used two or more reliable sources, while 63% had no reliable sources or no sources cited. From 2011 to 2019, resources with readability above grade 12 increased from 4% to 30% (p<0.0001), while websites offering educational support rose from 8% to 35% (p<0.0001). In 2019, treatment and etiology/risk factors were the most accurately covered areas (64% and 63% of websites, respectively). In 2011, 63% of websites were found to be globally accurate. Prognosis coverage increased from 18% to 33% from 2011 to 2019 (p=0.02). In 2019, survivorship was also evaluated and found to be covered in only 24% of resources. Conclusion Over the past eight years, there have been variable changes in the quality of online breast cancer resources. Promisingly, websites are being updated more frequently and the educational support offered is expanding. Furthermore, there has been significant improvement in the coverage of prognosis, although this requires further progress. Unfortunately, websites are becoming increasingly challenging to understand for the average patient, and coverage of survivorship is lacking. Our study provides vital information to healthcare providers on these trends in online breast cancer resources and how to best support patients in their internet searches.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9481420
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher Cureus
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-94814202022-09-20 The Past and Present of Breast Cancer Resources: A Re-evaluation of the Quality of Online Resources After Eight Years Killow, Veronika Lin, Julia Ingledew, Paris-Ann Cureus Radiation Oncology Background and objective The internet has become a major resource of information for cancer patients. However, the quality of these resources is variable, and a better understanding is needed to guide physicians as to how to best support patients in their online searches. We previously evaluated the quality of online breast cancer resources in 2011. Nearly a decade later, we aimed to assess the present quality of online breast cancer-related information and to compare our current analysis with data collected in 2011. Methods A list of 100 breast cancer websites was systematically compiled using meta-search engines Yippy and Dogpile and the search engine Google using the search term “breast cancer”. Content accuracy and quality markers, including authorship, attribu­tion, currency, site organization, and readability were assessed by using a previously validated standardized rating tool. Results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Fisher’s exact test. The same strategy was used in both 2011 and 2019. Results When comparing 2011 data to the current one, 27% of websites had been updated in the previous two years in 2011 compared to 65% in 2019 (p<0.00001). Both data sets remained similar in terms of website disclosures and objectivity. Only 30% of websites analyzed in 2019 used two or more reliable sources, while 63% had no reliable sources or no sources cited. From 2011 to 2019, resources with readability above grade 12 increased from 4% to 30% (p<0.0001), while websites offering educational support rose from 8% to 35% (p<0.0001). In 2019, treatment and etiology/risk factors were the most accurately covered areas (64% and 63% of websites, respectively). In 2011, 63% of websites were found to be globally accurate. Prognosis coverage increased from 18% to 33% from 2011 to 2019 (p=0.02). In 2019, survivorship was also evaluated and found to be covered in only 24% of resources. Conclusion Over the past eight years, there have been variable changes in the quality of online breast cancer resources. Promisingly, websites are being updated more frequently and the educational support offered is expanding. Furthermore, there has been significant improvement in the coverage of prognosis, although this requires further progress. Unfortunately, websites are becoming increasingly challenging to understand for the average patient, and coverage of survivorship is lacking. Our study provides vital information to healthcare providers on these trends in online breast cancer resources and how to best support patients in their internet searches. Cureus 2022-08-17 /pmc/articles/PMC9481420/ /pubmed/36134068 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.28120 Text en Copyright © 2022, Killow et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Radiation Oncology
Killow, Veronika
Lin, Julia
Ingledew, Paris-Ann
The Past and Present of Breast Cancer Resources: A Re-evaluation of the Quality of Online Resources After Eight Years
title The Past and Present of Breast Cancer Resources: A Re-evaluation of the Quality of Online Resources After Eight Years
title_full The Past and Present of Breast Cancer Resources: A Re-evaluation of the Quality of Online Resources After Eight Years
title_fullStr The Past and Present of Breast Cancer Resources: A Re-evaluation of the Quality of Online Resources After Eight Years
title_full_unstemmed The Past and Present of Breast Cancer Resources: A Re-evaluation of the Quality of Online Resources After Eight Years
title_short The Past and Present of Breast Cancer Resources: A Re-evaluation of the Quality of Online Resources After Eight Years
title_sort past and present of breast cancer resources: a re-evaluation of the quality of online resources after eight years
topic Radiation Oncology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9481420/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36134068
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.28120
work_keys_str_mv AT killowveronika thepastandpresentofbreastcancerresourcesareevaluationofthequalityofonlineresourcesaftereightyears
AT linjulia thepastandpresentofbreastcancerresourcesareevaluationofthequalityofonlineresourcesaftereightyears
AT ingledewparisann thepastandpresentofbreastcancerresourcesareevaluationofthequalityofonlineresourcesaftereightyears
AT killowveronika pastandpresentofbreastcancerresourcesareevaluationofthequalityofonlineresourcesaftereightyears
AT linjulia pastandpresentofbreastcancerresourcesareevaluationofthequalityofonlineresourcesaftereightyears
AT ingledewparisann pastandpresentofbreastcancerresourcesareevaluationofthequalityofonlineresourcesaftereightyears