Abstract
Background
There have been few studies of the information provided for cancer patients on the internet.
Methods
Using the Japanese language, we searched for cancer-related web pages, using the Google search engine, and evaluated the characteristics of the 150 top-ranked search results. We collected information on the operators of the websites, number of links, existence of a search function, and advertisements on the site. According to their contents, the 150 websites were classified into seven categories, of which five (numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6) each accounted for 20% of the websites. The categories were: (1) media-related websites (e.g., newspapers and publishers), and portal sites; (2) patient association websites, patient's diaries, blogs by patients and/or their families (n = 33); (3) websites of medical institutions (e.g., hospitals; n = 27); (4) websites of research institutions (e.g., universities; n = 35); (5) websites of pharmaceutical companies; (6) other websites providing medical information (n = 32); and (7) other websites that did not belong to categories 1–6. Outgoing links were common in websites created by media-related organizations (median, 13) or patients and their families (median, 15), but such links were not common in the other types of websites (median, 0–4). Eight of the 13 cancer based hospitals in Japan, as well as the National Cancer Center were publishing general cancer information on their websites. Of the 13 cancer based hospitals, 12 included a link to the National Cancer Center. The National Cancer Center had the largest amount of information (736 575 words), exceeding the amount provided by the other cancer based hospitals (1 622–155 515 words). Two of the 7 websites of academic associations (included in category 6) had cancer information for patients, but the document sizes were small (3230–44 091 words).
Conclusion
The website of the National Cancer Center is the most prominent source of general cancer information for patients, but it still has room for improvement in its usability.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
InstitutionalAuthorNameMinistry of Internal Affairs and Communications (2006) White paper on information and communications in Japan (in Japanese) Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Tokyo
BS Alper (2006) ArticleTitleUsefulness of online medical information Am Fam Physician 74 482–485 Occurrence Handle16913169
GK Berland MN Elliott LS Morales et al. (2001) ArticleTitleHealth information on the Internet: accessibility, quality, and readability (in English and Spanish) JAMA 285 2612–2621 Occurrence Handle11368735 Occurrence Handle10.1001/jama.285.20.2612 Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD3Mzhslyhtw%3D%3D
DM D'Alessandro P Kingsley J Johnson-West (2001) ArticleTitleThe readability of pediatric patient education materials on the World Wide Web Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 155 807–812 Occurrence Handle11434848
GM Newnham WI Burns RD Snyder et al. (2006) ArticleTitleInformation from the Internet: attitudes of Australian oncology patients Intern Med J 36 718–723 Occurrence Handle17040358 Occurrence Handle10.1111/j.1445-5994.2006.01212.x Occurrence Handle1:STN:280:DC%2BD28ngvVSgsA%3D%3D
T Akiba M Yamashita S Sato et al. (2002) ArticleTitleRequests for second opinions through the Internet reveal the feelings and concerns of patients with lung cancer and their families Jpn J Lung Cancer 42 589–592
A Matsumoto M Aragaki FZ Ying et al. (2005) ArticleTitleHow Japanese breast cancer survivors perceive the internet as a health information resource : an internet survey with mailing list participants Jpn J Med Informatics 25 151–159
Google [home page on the Internet] 2006 [cited 2006 December 22]; Available from: http://www.google.co.jp/
Search engine optimization. [Home page on the Internet] 2007 [cited 2007 July 6]; Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization
Web Trigger Back link checker. [home page on the Internet] 2005 [cited 2006 December 22]; Available from: http://system.webtrigger.jp/backlink.php
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Home Page (in Japanese). [Home page on the internet] 2006 [cited 2006 December 22]; Available from: http://www.mhlw.go.jp/new-info/map.html
Aichi Cancer Center Home Page (in Japanese). [Home page on the internet] 2006 [cited 2006 December 22]; Available from: http://www.pref.aichi.jp/cancer-center/
National Kyushu Cancer Center Home Page (in Japanese). [Home page on the internet] 2006 [cited 2006 December 22]; Available from: http://www.niigata-cc.jp/home.html
National Cancer Center Home Page (in Japanese). [home page on the Internet] 2006 August 4 [cited 2006 December 22]; Available from: http://www.ncc.go.jp/jp/
Fujitsu Research Institute Home Page (in Japanese). [Home page on the internet] 2006 [cited 2006 December 22]; Available from: http://jp.fujitsu.com/group/fri/report/cyber/basic/information/ad.html
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Home Page (in Japanese). [Home page on the internet] 2006 [cited 2006 December 22]; Available from: http://www.mhlw.go.jp/topics/2006/02/tp0201–2.html.?
Niigata Cancer Center Home Page (in Japanese). [Home page on the internet] 2006 [cited 2006 October 22]; Available from: http://www.niigata-cc.jp/home.html
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Morita, T., Narimatsu, H., Matsumura, T. et al. A study of cancer information for cancer patients on the internet. Int J Clin Oncol 12, 440–447 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-007-0707-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10147-007-0707-5