title: Physician evaluation of internet health information on proton therapy for prostate cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Many patients considering prostate cancer (PCa) treatment options report seeking proton beam therapy (PBT) based in part on information readily available on the Internet. There is, however, potential for considerable variation in Internet health information (IHI). We thus evaluated the characteristics, quality, and accuracy of IHI on PBT for PCa.
  
  
  METHODS
  We undertook a qualitative research study using snowball-purposive sampling in which we evaluated the top 50 Google search results for "proton prostate cancer." Quality was evaluated on a 5-point scale using the validated 15-question DISCERN instrument. Accuracy was evaluated by comparing IHI with the best available evidence.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-seven IHI websites were included in the final sample. These websites most frequently were patient information/support resources (46%), were focused exclusively on PBT (51%), and had a commercial affiliation (38%). There was a significant difference in quality according to the type of IHI. Substantial inaccuracies were noted in the study sample compared with best available or contextual evidence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There are shortcomings in quality and accuracy in consumer-oriented IHI on PBT for PCa. Providers must be prepared to educate patients how to critically evaluate IHI related to PBT for PCa to best inform their treatment decisions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA. as4351@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Anand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: Jonathan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Paly
authors.forename: Jason A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Efstathiou
authors.forename: Justin E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Bekelman
mesh_terms: D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D061766:Proton Therapy / Q000592:standards*; D036301:Qualitative Research