Meeting the information needs of Australian men with prostate cancer by way of the internet.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the information preferred by Australian men for a prostate cancer website, to establish such a website, and to assess whether the first 2 years of use of the website reflected those needs. Successful patient information programs must be relevant to the target group's needs.


METHODS
In phase 1, we surveyed Australian prostate cancer support group members asking for the preferred functions and content of an Australian website. In phase 2, a website was developed (http://www.prostatehealth.org.au) with the requested content derived from a urology service, state Cancer Councils, and medical directory and support group organizations. In phase 3, usage patterns of the site were analyzed using Web-Trends software for the first 2 years (2000 to 2002).


RESULTS
The phase 1 survey of 54 men (response rate 69.2%) showed the most preferred pages were understanding diagnosis/understanding treatment (59%), on-line help-line (49%), and news sections (44%) with listings of Australian support groups (22%). Credible, up-to-date Australian-oriented content was requested. In phase 2, the site developed had five searchable databases with requested medical content from a urology service, support group and treatment center listings, and an on-line help-line run by a cancer council. In phase 3, after 2 years of operation, the site averaged 150,000 hits and 15,000 page views per month, with 46% of visitors from Australian domains. Most visited sections closely followed the needs assessment.


CONCLUSIONS
Needs assessment is an important precursor to targeted web-based education programs. Nonmedical, community-based information is important to men with prostate cancer, as is information on diagnosis and treatment.
Pinnock
Carole B
CB
Urology Unit, Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, South Australia, Australia.
Jones
Craig
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services / Q000639:trends*; D020407:Internet / Q000639:trends*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009862:Online Systems / Q000639:trends; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires