Use of the internet for self-education by patients with prostate cancer

Why do men choose one treatment over another?

“…These included 16 survey studies, [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] 16 studies aimed at designing and exploring decision aids, 19 -34 16 focus group studies regarding treatment decision making, [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] 10 studies examining shared decision making between patients and physicians, [51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60] 6 studies exploring health state preferences associated with treatment decision making, [61][62][63][64][65][66] and 5 review articles related to treatment decision making.…”

“…9 Many studies have reported that men with higher educational levels are better able to synthesize and cope with the complex information provided by physicians and educational resources, and studies also have reported that these men are more active in the decision-making process. 5,8,15,16 In a study focusing on a population of men with low socioeconomic status, Kim et al 58 found that low literacy levels made shared decision-making programs less effective. A low level of education also was found in some studies to be associated with greater difficulty in completing health state utility assessments.…”

The Impact of the Internet on Cancer Outcomes

“…In one study, in which different groups of persons with cancer were surveyed using the same instrument, highly significant differences in utilization of the Internet by diagnosis were observed: 16% of lung patients, 18% of head-and-neck patients, 27% of prostate patients, 34% of breast patients, and 45% of gynecologic patients reported using the Internet to obtain cancer-related information. 20 This partly reflects demographic differences between the cancer types: We know from many studies that women are more active health seekers than men, 28,29 and that younger age 7,9,10,12,14,16,20,21,24 is also associated with greater Internet use. Therefore, age and sex are confounders when comparing Internet use, and it is unclear whether differences between diagnostic groups are mainly a result of demographic differences or whether they remain significant when adjusted for patient age and sex.…”

“…In addition, well-known socioeconomic predictors for Internet use or nonuse, that is, factors contributing to the "digital divide," 30,31 also cut across the population of persons with cancer: those using the Internet are mostly better educated 6,7,14,19,21,24 and have a higher income 6,14,19 than nonusers, and they are more likely white.…”

Quality of life after radical prostatectomy: Continuing to improve on our track record

“…Additionally, patients seek out information from other sources, such as prostate cancer survivors, the internet, and other health practitioners. 7 There can be a significant impact on patient perceptions and expectations before and after surgery. Again, this information is not presented.…”