The Lung Cancer and Cigarette Smoking Web page: a pilot study in telehealth promotion on the World Wide Web.
BACKGROUND
Diseases caused by tobacco products are the number one preventable health problem.


OBJECTIVE
A pilot study was performed to determine the characteristics of persons searching the World Wide Web (WWW) for information on tobacco-caused diseases, the type of information sought and the feasibility of meeting informational needs.


METHODS
The Lung Cancer and Cigarette Smoking Web Page at the unique reference location, created in January 1996, consists of hypertext metafile language files in a 'frequently asked questions' format on tobacco-caused diseases, nicotine dependence and smoking cessation. Links to other Web pages, a counter, e-mail access and Web forms were included.


METHODS
Personal computer.


METHODS
People browsing the WWW.


RESULTS
Between April 1996 and March 1999, there were more than 150,000 hits and 1510 individual e-mail or form responses; 597 (51.3%) of the respondents were female and 566 (48.7%) were male. They ranged between nine and 79 years of age, with a median of 29 years and a mean of 34 years. The percentage of respondents 20 years old or younger was 34.3%. Five hundred thirteen people resided in 45 American states, and 195 individuals resided in 39 other nations. Students, people with tobacco-caused diseases, and relatives or friends of persons with tobacco-caused diseases made up the large majority of correspondents. Smokers represented 40.2% of the respondents, ex-smokers 34.3% and never-smokers 25.5%. There were three main types of questions: questions for information on the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, for help with smoking cessation and for information on tobacco-caused diseases from students working on a school-related project. Images of tobacco-caused diseases were requested frequently.


CONCLUSIONS
An educational WWW page is a potentially important resource in the control of tobacco-caused diseases because it fosters primary prevention of smoking in young people, facilitating smoking cessation and providing information on the diagnosis and treatment of tobacco-caused diseases.
Grannis
F W
FW
Section of Thoracic Surgery, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California 91010, USA. fgrannis@coh.org
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*