Women's approaches to the use of new technology for cancer risk information.
BACKGROUND
Women are currently offered multiple sources of breast cancer risk information, and the Internet is the most rapidly growing health information source. The objectives of this study were to identify women's preferences for receiving online breast cancer risk information, to identify barriers to accessing this information, and to identify differences in these factors between Internet users and non-users.


METHODS
Eight focus groups were conducted with women aged 18 to 74 (n = 65) living in King County, Washington.


RESULTS
Participants were interested in accessing online health information with the support of a real person to assist with information searches and in accessing personalized information online. Participants emphasized the importance of trust, both in the content provider and in the organization collecting their personal data.


CONCLUSIONS
Web sites should provide personalized information and personal searching assistance. They should also include disclosures of content sources and a privacy policy that details how personal data is handled.
Unruh
Heidi K
HK
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, P.O. Box 19024, M3-B232, Seattle, WA 98109-1024, USA.
Bowen
Deborah J
DJ
Meischke
Hendrika
H
Bush
Nigel
N
Wooldridge
Jean A
JA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003256:Community Participation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods; D020407:Internet / Q000592:standards*; D008875:Middle Aged; D033262:Narration; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014861:Washington / Q000453:epidemiology; D014932:Women's Health Services / Q000592:standards