The Internet and prostate cancer patients Searching for and finding information.

Objective. To define the characteristics of prostate cancer patients who use the Internet. Material and methods. In October 2002, 511 prostate cancer patients from Stockholm-Gotland County completed a postal questionnaire consisting of 146 questions regarding use of the Internet, demographic factors, level of information about the disease and its treatment, quality of life and trade-off possibilities. Results. The response rate was 86.5% (n=511) and the mean age of the respondents was 71 years. A total of 210 men (41.1%) had access to the Internet. Eighty-two men (16.4%) had looked for information on prostate cancer, either by themselves or with the aid of others. Among men aged 50-60 years, 39% were Internet users, compared to 8% among men aged 75-80 years; the figures for university graduates versus those who had only attended elementary school were 33% and 3%, respectively. Fifty of the 82 men (61%) who searched for information regarded themselves as being satisfactorily informed by online information. Conclusions. Of the men in this cohort, 16% searched the Internet for information regarding their prostate cancer. Young and well-educated men utilized the Internet more frequently than others, but they did not find information more often than older and less well-educated men. It is possible that the Internet promotes social inequality in obtaining healthcare in favor of well-educated, highly paid individuals.

Hopfgarten, ThomasKarolinska Institutet (author)
Adolfsson, JanKarolinska Institutet (author)
Onelöv, ErikKarolinska Institutet (author)
Steineck, Gunnar,1952Karolinska Institutet,Gothenburg University,Göteborgs universitet,Institutionen för kliniska vetenskaper,Institute of Clinical Sciences(Swepub:gu)xstegu (author)
Karolinska InstitutetInstitutionen för kliniska vetenskaper (creator_code:org_t)

In:Scandinavian journal of urology and nephrology: Informa UK Limited41:5, s. 367-740036-55991651-2065

By the author/editor: Buntrock, Stefan; Hopfgarten, Thom ...; Adolfsson, Jan; Onelöv, Erik; Steineck, Gunnar ...

About the subject

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES: MEDICAL AND HEAL ...; and Clinical Medicin ...; and Cancer and Oncol ...

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