Cancer Patients Share Web Info With Docs
for Insight, Advice
They are not typically challenging their treatments, study
found.
Cancer patients' primary
goal in talking with their doctors about information they've found on the
Internet is to get more insight and advice on the online information, new
research indicates.
"It seems that
patients were not necessarily trying to influence their doctors, but rather
they wanted to better understand their options," study author Christina
Sabee, an associate professor of communication studies at San Francisco State
University, said in a Journal of Applied Communication Research news
release.
Sabee and her colleagues
examined responses to online questionnaires completed by 145 cancer patients
and caregivers from three online cancer communities and found that only 13
percent discussed online information with their doctors to test the doctor's
knowledge or find out why the doctor's advice differed from online information.
Thirty-seven percent of
participants said they discussed online information with their doctor to learn
more about a condition or treatment, 19 percent wanted the doctor's opinion or
advice, and 10 percent wanted their doctor to verify the accuracy of the online
information.
The study also found that
13 percent of patients wanted to show their doctor they were taking an active
role in treatment or being a "good patient." Some of these patients
felt that their doctors had strict ideas about treatment and were unwilling to
consider other options.
It's important for doctors
to recognize these patients, Sabee said.
"Patients who discuss
Internet health information to show that they are a 'good' patient, or to
express competence and knowledge about their illness, may respond poorly to a
stark criticism of their Internet research or a refusal to support certain
options," she explained.
When a patient wants to
talk about online information, doctors could respond by asking the patient what
led them to bring up this information, Sabee suggested. Doing so could
encourage positive feelings in patients and lead to better health.
The study was published
online May 23 and will appear in the August print issue of the journal.
More information
(SOURCE: Journal of
Applied Communication Research, news release, May 23, 2012)
No comments:
Post a Comment