Internet Usage Trends in Thoracic Surgery Patients and Their Caregivers.
With trends toward increasing patient involvement in medical decision-making, decreasing clinic times, and the availability of the Internet, patients and their caregivers are increasingly researching cancer diagnoses online. It is essential for physicians to understand patient Internet usage as it relates to their own health education. Internet usage trends have been studied in various areas, but not in thoracic diseases. This prospective cohort study surveyed 337 thoracic surgery patients and their caregivers with both cancer and non-cancer diagnoses to examine their Internet usage trends. Cancer subjects were more likely to research their condition online if they were younger, had a higher income, had a higher education level, and were currently employed. Only age and income level were predictive for non-cancer subjects. Separately, cancer subjects were more likely to trust information found on the Internet if they had a higher education. Subjects were most likely to conduct research on a hospital website than other websites. These data will be helpful to thoracic surgeons who want to appropriately educate patients and their caregivers and direct them to reliable Internet sources. These data also illustrate the importance of developing trustworthy hospital websites with disease-specific information.
University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
Alisha D
AD
Lussiez
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Medical Center, 3110 Taubman Center, SPC 5368, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
Stephanie
S
Burdick
Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, M696, Box 0110, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA.
Sindhura
S
Kodali
Department of General Surgery, University of Miami, 1611 Nw 12th Ave Ste 2169, Miami, FL, 33136, USA.
Gustavo
G
Rubio
University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
Jacob A
JA
Mack
University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.|Section of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical Center, Taubman Center, 2120, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
Jules
J
Lin
University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.|Section of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical Center, Taubman Center, 2120, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
Andrew C
AC
Chang
University of Michigan Medical School, 1301 Catherine, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA. reddyrm@med.umich.edu.|Section of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical Center, Taubman Center, 2120, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA. reddyrm@med.umich.edu.
Rishindra M
RM
Reddy
D000367:Age Factors; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D054626:Consumer Health Information; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013903:Thoracic Surgery / Q000193:education*
Cancer; Patient education; Thoracic surgery