Background Accessible nutrition resources tailored to patients with cancer, caregivers of cancer survivors, and people interested in cancer prevention are limited. Cook for Your Life is a bilingual (ie, English and Spanish) website providing science-based, nutrition information for people affected by cancer. Objective The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of Cook for Your Life website users. Methods In December 2020, Cook for Your Life website visitors at least 18 years old were invited to participate in an online English-language survey. A Spanish version was offered in April 2021. Demographic, health, and cooking characteristics were collected. Persons with a cancer history were asked about treatment and side effects. Data were analyzed through December 2021 on those completing over half of the survey. Three groups were compared: people with a history of cancer diagnosis, caregivers of cancer survivors, and the general public (ie, people without a cancer history). Website use data were also compared. Results Among English-language respondents, 3346 initiated the survey and 2665 (79.65%) completed over half of the questions. Of these, 54.82% (n=1461) had a cancer diagnosis, 8.26% (n=220) were caregivers, and 36.92% (n=984) were from the general public. English-language respondents were US residents (n=2054, 77.07%), with some from Europe (n=285, 10.69%) and Canada (n=170, 6.38%). Cancer survivors were most likely 55 years of age or older, female, non-Hispanic White, with incomes over US $100,000, and college educated. Caregivers and the general public were younger and more racially and geographically diverse. The most common cancer malignancies among English-language cancer survivors were breast (629/1394, 45.12%) and gastrointestinal (209/1394, 14.99%). For Spanish-language respondents, 942 initiated the survey; of these, 681 (72.3%) were analyzed. Of the 681 analyzed, 13.5% (n=92) were cancer survivors, 6.8% (n=46) were caregivers, and 79.7% (n=543) were from the general public. Spanish-language respondents were also more likely to be female and highly educated, but were younger, were from South or Latin America, and had incomes less than US $30,000. Among Spanish-language cancer survivors, breast cancer (27/81, 33%) and gastrointestinal cancer (15/81, 19%) were the most common diagnoses. Website use data on over 2.2 million users from December 2020 to December 2021 showed that 52.29% of traffic was in English and 43.44% was in Spanish. Compared to survey respondents, a higher proportion of website users were male, younger, and from South or Central America and Europe. Conclusions Cook for Your Life website users were demographically, socioeconomically, and geographically diverse, especially English-language respondents without a cancer history and all Spanish-language respondents. Improvements on website user diversity and reach for all patients with cancer and research on effective strategies for using this digital platform to support cancer prevention, treatment, and survivorship will continue. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04200482; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04200482
BACKGROUND Accessible, science-driven dietary and nutrition resources tailored for people affected by cancer are limited. Launched by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Cook for Your Life (cookforyourlife.org) is a bilingual website providing science-based nutrition and culinary information for people affected by cancer. OBJECTIVE This paper describes the history of the Cook for Your Life website and information on its users based on an online survey and website utilization data. METHODS Starting in December 2020, Cook for Your Life website visitors ≥18 years old were invited to participate in an online English language survey. A Spanish version was offered in April 2021. Demographic, health status and behavior, and cooking characteristics were collected. Persons with a cancer history were asked a subset of questions about treatment and side effects. Data were analyzed through December 2021 on those completing at least 50% of the survey. Three groups were compared: people with a cancer diagnosis, primary caregivers of cancer survivors, and the general public. Website utilization data were also compared. RESULTS Among English language (EL) respondents, 3346 initiated the survey and 2665 (79.6%) completed at least half of the questions. Of these, 54.8% had a cancer diagnosis, 8.3% were caregivers, and 36.9% were from the general public. Most EL respondents were US residents (77.1%), with some from Europe (10.7%) and Canada (6.4%). Cancer survivors were most likely to be ≥55 years old, female, non-Hispanic white, have income >$100K, and be college educated. Caregivers and the general public were younger and more racially and geographically diverse. The two most common cancer histories among EL cancer survivors were breast (45.1%) and gastrointestinal (15.0%). Among Spanish language (SL) respondents, 942 initiated the survey and 681 (72.3%) were analyzed. Of these, 13.5% were cancer survivors, 6.8% caregivers, and 79.7% from the general public. SL respondents were also more likely to be female and highly educated, but were younger, from South/Latin America, and had income <$30K compared to EL respondents. Among SL cancer survivors, breast (33.3%) and gastrointestinal cancer (18.5%) were the most common diagnoses. Website utilization data on approximately 2.1 million users from December 2020 to December 2021 showed 58% of traffic in English and 42% in Spanish. Compared to online survey respondents, a higher proportion of overall website users were male, younger, and from South and Central America and Europe. CONCLUSIONS The Cook for Your Life website users were diverse in terms of demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics, especially among EL respondents without a cancer history and among all SL respondents. Research to improve knowledge about effective strategies to use this digital platform to improve cancer prevention and control through evidence-based nutrition strategies will continue.
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