Women age 45 years or younger with breast cancer, or who are at high-risk for breast cancer due to previously having the disease or to genetic risk, have distinct health risks and needs from their older counterparts. Young women frequently seek health information through the Internet and mainstream media, but often find it does not address their particular concerns, that it is difficult to evaluate or interpret, or even misleading. To help women better understand media coverage about new research, Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) developed the CDC-funded XRAYS (eXamining Relevance of Articles to Young Survivors) program. To assure that the XRAYS program is responsive to the community's needs, FORCE launched a web-based survey to assess where young women seek information about breast cancer, and to learn their unmet information needs. A total of 1,178 eligible women responded to the survey. In general, the breast cancer survivors and high-risk women between ages 18-45 years who responded to this survey, are using multiple media sources to seek information about breast cancer risk, prevention, screening, and treatment. They place trust in several media sources and use them to inform their medical decisions. Only about one-third of respondents to this survey report discussing media sources with their health care providers. Current survey results indicate that, by providing credible information on the quality of evidence and reporting in media reports on cancer, XRAYS is addressing a key need for health information. Results suggest that it will be useful for XRAYS to offer reviews of articles on a broad range of topics that can inform decisions at each stage of risk assessment and treatment.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the effects of eXamining Relevance of Articles to Young Survivors (XRAYS), an online resource that provides brief articles discussing recent research relevant to young women with or at risk for breast cancer, on users’ knowledge about information covered in media reports. An evaluator also assessed the degree to which XRAYS facilitated awareness of recent research findings and how users recommended improving the resource. Design: Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention condition, whose members read original news reports and the corresponding XRAYS review or to a control condition, whose members read only original news reports. Participants also discussed XRAYS’ utility and cultural appropriateness. Setting: Data were collected in a meeting room at a Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) conference. All participants were registered for a conference for women with or at risk for genetic breast or ovarian cancer. Method: Participants answered multiple choice questions about research before reading the assigned materials and again after reading the assigned materials. T-tests were used to assess pre-post-test change for both groups and to compare groups’ change in knowledge. Results: Both groups improved between pre- and post-test. The treatment group increased knowledge significantly more than the control group. Focus group results indicate that XRAYS is a valuable resource for identifying relevant recent research findings and for explaining limitations in research methods, relevance, and reporting quality. Results also indicate that it is critical for XRAYS and similar resources to be brief, use non-technical language and address the most recent trends in media coverage. Conclusion: Online resources that use plain language to help users to interpret science reporting critically help meet an important health education need.

Rationale: Breast cancer diagnosis at a young age is associated with higher risk of recurrence, mortality, morbidity, and impact on quality of life. Long-term effects of treatment may include early menopause, fertility impairment, neuropathy, cardiovascular disease, lowered bone density, and risk of second malignancies. Young women with or at-risk for breast cancer often seek health information through mainstream print and digital media. However, they often find it does not address their unique concerns, is difficult to interpret, or even misleading. Media reports of breast cancer research are often unreliable, misleading, or confusing regarding which information is clinically relevant. Young women with or at-risk for breast cancer, need accurate, clearly presented information based on sound evidence to help them make informed decisions about their specific health needs. To help women better understand media coverage about new research, Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE) developed the CDC-funded XRAYS (eXamining Relevance of Articles to Young Survivors) program. XRAYS is an online resource that provides brief articles summarizing recent research relevant to young women with or at-risk for breast cancer. XRAYS articles rate the quality and relevance of research, the quality of media reporting, and suggest questions users may be useful to address with health care providers. One critical aim of XRAYS is to improve users’ understanding of the information presented in media reports related to breast cancer. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess whether XRAYS improves readers’ knowledge about information presented in media reports relevant to breast cancer more than reading media reports alone. Methods: To assess XRAYS’ impact on users’ knowledge of information presented in media reports, an evaluator conducted a study with 36 volunteer participants who were attending a FORCE conference. Participants were randomly assigned to treatment or control groups. Both groups completed pre-test paper and pencil multiple choice assessments of knowledge regarding information presented in the article they read, in order to assess baseline knowledge. Then, the treatment group read a media report and the corresponding XRAYS article and the control group read only the media report. After reading the materials, participants answered the same paper and pencil multiple choice questions, so that changes in knowledge could be assessed. Results: A between groups t-test indicated that the groups had comparable baseline knowledge about the material they were assigned to read. A within group comparison showed that the control group’s knowledge did not significantly change between pre- and post-test, while the XRAYS group’s knowledge increased significantly (t(18)=-2.67, p<.05). A between group comparison of change scores showed that the treatment group’s change was significantly greater than the control group’s (t(34)=-3.01, p<.01). The table shows results of the between group comparison of knowledge change. (t(34)=-3.01, p<.01). The table shows results of the between group comparison of knowledge change.GroupNMean Change Score (s.d.)t-score (d.f.)PComparison Group17-16.47 (35.52)-3.01 (34)<.01XRAYS1918.95 (34.94) Conclusion: Results indicate that XRAYS is effective in supporting users in learning more factual content from media reports on cancer research than people who read media reports alone, and that it may be useful to develop similar resources to meet other audiences’ needs for information about cancer research. Citation Format: Robin Hilary Pugh Yi, Piri Welcsch, Lisa Rezende, Craig Dearfield, Kelly Owens, Susan J. Friedman. Effectiveness of an online educational resource in increasing lay users' understanding of information in media reports on breast cancer research [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-15-07.

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Objective: Women aged 45 or younger with breast cancer, or those who are at high risk of breast cancer due to a family history of the disease or genetic test results indicating risk, have distinct health risks and needs. Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (FORCE), a non-profit advocacy organisation, developed an online resource designed to address these needs. Design: In-person surveys were administered to compare baseline and post-test knowledge of two cohorts of 55 volunteer participants. Both groups read a printed media news article related to breast cancer research. The intervention group also read a printed brief review that provided a summary of research findings, and discussion and ratings of research evidence and reporting quality. Setting: Participants were recruited at two FORCE conferences. Data were collected at the conference sites. Method: Pilot and follow-up sample results were pooled and analysed using t-test comparisons. Results: The intervention resource use was associated with a significantly greater increase in knowledge than only reading the media news article. Conclusion: An online tool developed to respond to audience needs, offering ratings of evidence quality and relevance, can help readers to better understand research reporting.