Kakai Hisako, Maskarinec Gertraud, Shumay Dianne M, Tatsumura Yvonne, Tasaki Katsuya
Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1236 Lauhala Street, Honolulu, HI 96813, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2003 Feb;56(4):851-62. doi: 10.1016/s0277-9536(02)00086-2.
This study examined patterns in the use of health information among Caucasian, Japanese, and non-Japanese Asian Pacific Islander cancer patients in Hawaii and explored the relation of ethnicity and educational level to choices of health information sources. Information from 140 cancer patients, most of whom were users of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), was analyzed using correspondence analysis. Three clusters of health information pertinent to the three ethnic groups emerged from the data. The results of this study revealed that Caucasian patients preferred objective, scientific, and updated information obtained through medical journals or newsletters from research institutions, telephone information services, and the internet. Japanese patients relied on media and commercial sources including television, newspapers, books, magazines and CAM providers. Non-Japanese Asians and Pacific Islanders used information sources involving person-to-person communication with their physicians, social groups, and other cancer patients. A higher educational level was closely related to a cluster of health information stressing objective, scientific and updated information, while a lower educational level was associated with interpersonally communicated information. The three ethnicity-specific patterns of health information use remained relatively stable at different educational levels, implying that the effect of patients' ethnicity overrides their educational level in shaping their choices of health information. The results of this study indicate the importance of recognizing cancer patients' culturally developed world views when understanding their health information-seeking behavior. For medical practice, these findings indicate the need for healthcare providers to assist cancer patients to obtain accurate health information in a culturally sensitive way.
本研究调查了夏威夷的白人、日本人和非日裔亚太岛民癌症患者使用健康信息的模式,并探讨了种族和教育水平与健康信息来源选择之间的关系。使用对应分析对140名癌症患者的信息进行了分析,其中大多数患者使用补充和替代医学(CAM)。数据中出现了与这三个种族群体相关的三类健康信息。本研究结果显示,白人患者更喜欢通过医学期刊、研究机构的时事通讯、电话信息服务和互联网获取的客观、科学且最新的信息。日本患者依赖包括电视、报纸、书籍、杂志和补充与替代医学提供者在内的媒体和商业来源。非日裔亚洲人和太平洋岛民使用的信息来源包括与医生、社会群体和其他癌症患者的人际交流。较高的教育水平与强调客观、科学和最新信息的一类健康信息密切相关,而较低的教育水平则与人际交流的信息相关。在不同教育水平下,这三种特定种族的健康信息使用模式相对稳定,这意味着在塑造患者对健康信息的选择时,患者的种族影响超过了他们的教育水平。本研究结果表明,在理解癌症患者的健康信息寻求行为时,认识到他们基于文化形成的世界观的重要性。对于医疗实践而言,这些发现表明医疗服务提供者需要以文化敏感的方式协助癌症患者获取准确的健康信息。