Meeting the information needs of Australian men with prostate cancer by way of the internet - PubMed (original) (raw)

Comparative Study

Meeting the information needs of Australian men with prostate cancer by way of the internet

Carole B Pinnock et al. Urology. 2003 Jun.

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the information preferred by Australian men for a prostate cancer website, to establish such a website, and to assess whether the first 2 years of use of the website reflected those needs. Successful patient information programs must be relevant to the target group's needs.

Methods: In phase 1, we surveyed Australian prostate cancer support group members asking for the preferred functions and content of an Australian website. In phase 2, a website was developed (http://www.prostatehealth.org.au) with the requested content derived from a urology service, state Cancer Councils, and medical directory and support group organizations. In phase 3, usage patterns of the site were analyzed using Web-Trends software for the first 2 years (2000 to 2002).

Results: The phase 1 survey of 54 men (response rate 69.2%) showed the most preferred pages were understanding diagnosis/understanding treatment (59%), on-line help-line (49%), and news sections (44%) with listings of Australian support groups (22%). Credible, up-to-date Australian-oriented content was requested. In phase 2, the site developed had five searchable databases with requested medical content from a urology service, support group and treatment center listings, and an on-line help-line run by a cancer council. In phase 3, after 2 years of operation, the site averaged 150,000 hits and 15,000 page views per month, with 46% of visitors from Australian domains. Most visited sections closely followed the needs assessment.

Conclusions: Needs assessment is an important precursor to targeted web-based education programs. Nonmedical, community-based information is important to men with prostate cancer, as is information on diagnosis and treatment.

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