Internet Message Board Use by Patients With Cancer and Their Families

Abstract

The Life After Cancer Care (LACC) Internet Web site and message board were created at a comprehensive cancer center to provide up-to-date information about different types of cancer, treatments, late effects, and research findings. The message board enables patients with cancer to exchange information on a more personal basis. During the 16-month period since the creation of the Web site, 972 people logged on to the message board and 284 people posted 619 messages. Most (64%) posted only one message. The posted messages were related most frequently to cancers of the breast, gastrointestinal system, lung, gynecologic system, head and neck, and colon. Sixty percent of the people posting messages were cancer survivors; the remaining 40% were family or friends of survivors. The most frequent query themes were concerns about treatment, support, and long-term side effects of treatment. Individuals with cancer were significantly more likely to post messages about long-term side effects of treatment than family and friends. Message boards are a useful tool for sharing information with others who have similar experiences. Message board entry data also provide valuable information that can be used to refine the boards. Message boards have not been used traditionally in healthcare research but hold considerable promise as an information resource for people affected by cancer.

The role of the Internet in supporting and informing carers of people with cancer: a literature review

“…However, men participating in breast cancer forums were more likely to include emotional communication [49]. There were differences noted in the content of messages between someone who has cancer compared to someone who does not [23,48].…”

“…Women posted more messages than men [23,36,48,49], were more likely to be seeking information [23], to share their experiences [36], to be supportive in their messages [19,23,34,35,48] and add thanks for support received [35,49]. Men were more likely to provide factual information in response to a posted request [23].…”

A Qualitative Analysis of “Naturalistic” Conversations in a Peer-Led Online Support Community for Lung Cancer

“…Regardless, the message content and tenor of messages posted by mainly female users in this online lung cancer support community corroborate previously described patterns of Internet support use by female users who tend to engage in information exchange, sharing of personal experiences, and emotional support behaviors. 39,57 Empirical literature on advocacy or activism in lung cancer online support communities is scant (see, for example, Ginossar 39 ). However, we found similar activism responses in this lung cancer online support community as those encountered by researchers who examined breast 36 and prostate cancer 37 patients' expressions of anger and tireless efforts to call attention to their respective cancer cause.…”

Blogging activity among cancer patients and their companions: Uses, gratifications, and predictors of outcomes

“…They also found that women with higher education, higher income and of white race/ethnicity were more likely to use the Internet for health issues. Schultz, Stava, Beck, and Vassilopoulou-Sellin (2003) created and examined an online message board that provided up-to-date information about different types of cancer, treatments, late effects, and research findings. Over a 16-month period the team found that individuals with cancer were significantly more likely to post messages than friends and family.…”