Negative information-seeking experiences of long-term prostate cancer survivors

Abstract

Purpose Many prostate cancer survivors have lasting symptoms and disease-related concerns for which they seek information. To understand survivors’ information seeking experiences, we examined the topics of their information searches, their overall perceptions of the search, and perceptions of their health information seeking self-efficacy (i.e., confidence in their ability to obtain information). We hypothesized that negative search experiences and lower health information seeking self-efficacy would be associated with certain survivor characteristics such as non-white race, low income, and less education. Methods This was a retrospective study using data from the Michigan Prostate Cancer Survivor Study (state-based survey of long-term prostate cancer survivor outcomes, N=2,499, response rate = 38%). Participants recalled their last search for information and reported the topics and overall experience. We conducted multivariable regression to examine the association between survivor characteristics and the information-seeking experience. Results Nearly a third (31.7%) of prostate cancer survivors (median age of 76 years and 9 years since diagnosis) reported having negative information seeking experiences when looking for information. However, only 13.4% reported having low health information seeking self-efficacy. Lower income and less education were both significantly associated with negative information seeking experiences. Conclusions Our findings suggest that many long-term prostate cancer survivors have negative experiences when searching for information, and lower income and less education were survivor factors related to negative information seeking experiences. Implications for cancer survivors We advocate for ongoing, information needs assessment at the point-of-care as the survivorship experience progresses to assess and potentially improve survivors’ quality of life.

The Effect of an Information Support Program on Self-Efficacy of Prostate Cancer Patients during Hormonal Therapy

“…It has been reported that approximately one-third (31.7%) of PCa survivors have negative information-seeking experiences when looking for information. [ 41 ] Our study also showed that information acquisition in the control group was significantly lower compared with the baseline level at the 3-month follow-up.…”

Digital inequalities in health information seeking behaviors and experiences in the age of web 2.0: A population-based study in Hong Kong

“…Our findings go beyond the physical barrier by showing that people with lower educational attainment and income had more skill barriers, including a lot of effort and frustration during the search and difficulties in understanding the web-based health information. This confirmed the SES disparities in experiences of web-based HISBs identified in our qualitative interview [ 15 ] and studies including patient populations only [ 41 , 42 ]. The findings supported the “Inverse Care Law” [ 43 ], which suggests that the disadvantaged groups are most in need of healthcare but may benefit less from health-related ICTs.…”

Digital divide and Internet health information seeking among cancer survivors: A trend analysis from 2011 to 2017

“…Self‐efficacy in health information seeking is one's confidence in accomplishing health information relevant tasks. As an individual believes in the ability to obtain desired health information, he or she often makes greater efforts and spend more time in searching …”