Adapting the content of cancer web sites to the information needs of patients: reliability and readability.
BACKGROUND
People who use the Internet to research health topics do not usually find all the information they need and do not trust what they read. This study was designed to assess the reliability, accessibility, readability, and popularity of cancer Web sites in Spanish and to analyze the suitability of Web site content in accordance with the specific information needs of cancer patients.


METHODS
This was a two-phase, cross-sectional, descriptive study. The first phase involved data gathering through online searches and direct observation. The second phase involved individual structured interviews with 169 patients with breast, prostate, bladder, and kidney cancer. Spearman rank correlations were calculated between variables.


RESULTS
Most sites belonged to nonprofit organizations, followed by universities or medical centers (14%). Thirty-one percent of the Web sites had quality seals, 59% provided details of authorship, 62% provided references to bibliographic sources, 38% identified their funding sources, and 54% showed the date of their last update. Twenty-one percent of the Web sites did not meet the minimum accessibility criteria. With regard to readability, 24% of the texts were considered to be "quite difficult." Patients' information needs vary depending on the type of cancer they have, although all patients want to know about the likelihood of a cure, survival rates, the side effects, and risks of treatment.


CONCLUSIONS
The health information on cancer available on the Internet in Spanish is not very reliable, accessible, or readable and is not necessarily the information that breast, kidney, prostate, and bladder cancer patients require. The content of cancer Web sites needs to be assessed according to the information needs of patients.
1 Investigation Support Unit, Our Lady of the Snows University Hospital , Granada, Spain .
Ruben
R
Alba-Ruiz
Clara
C
Bermúdez-Tamayo
Jaime Jiménez
JJ
Pernett
Jose Francisco
JF
Garcia-Gutierrez
José Manuel
JM
Cózar-Olmo
Beatriz
B
Valero-Aguilera
D000328:Adult; D032882:Comprehension; D054626:Consumer Health Information / Q000592:standards*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms; D036301:Qualitative Research; D017216:Telemedicine