Lange Lukas, Peikert Mona Leandra, Bleich Christiane, Schulz Holger
Department of Medical Psychology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
PeerJ. 2019 Sep 30;7:e7634. doi: 10.7717/peerj.7634. eCollection 2019.
The use of the internet to satisfy information needs is widespread among cancer patients. Patients' decisions regarding whether to act upon the information they find strongly depend on the trustworthiness of the information and the medium. Patients who are younger, more highly educated and female are more likely to trust online information. The objectives of this systematic review were to examine the extent to which cancer patients trust in cancer-related online information, internet websites as a source of cancer-related information or the internet as a medium of cancer information.
A systematic review was conducted using five databases (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42017070190). Studies of any kind were included if they measured cancer patients' trust in online health information. Study quality was assessed using the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) item bank. A narrative synthesis was undertaken to examine the included studies.
Of the 7,314 citations obtained by the search, seven cross-sectional studies were included in the synthesis. A total of 1,054 patients reported having some or a great deal of trust in online cancer information; 154 patients reported moderately trusting such information; and 833 patients reported having no or little trust in online cancer information, internet websites as a source of cancer-related information or the internet as a medium of cancer-related information. Two of the seven studies reported between group comparisons for the above-stated patient characteristics. The methodological quality of the included studies was diverse.
The results of the included studies indicates that approximately half of cancer patients appear to trust cancer-specific online information, internet websites as a source of cancer-related information or the internet as an information medium. However, the small number of included studies, high heterogeneity of participants, methods and outcomes calls for further systematic research. It is important to understand that cancer patients do and will increasingly use trusted cancer information websites to search for information concerning their disease. Therefore, physicians and other health care providers should provide more support and advice to these patients.
利用互联网满足信息需求在癌症患者中很普遍。患者对于是否依据所获取信息采取行动的决定很大程度上取决于信息及信息媒介的可信度。年龄较小、受教育程度较高的女性患者更有可能信任在线信息。本系统评价的目的是考察癌症患者对癌症相关在线信息、作为癌症相关信息来源的互联网网站或作为癌症信息媒介的互联网的信任程度。
使用五个数据库进行系统评价（PROSPERO注册号：CRD42017070190）。如果研究测量了癌症患者对在线健康信息的信任度，则纳入任何类型的研究。使用三角研究机构（RTI）题库评估研究质量。对纳入研究进行叙述性综合分析。
在检索获得的7314条文献中，七项横断面研究纳入了综合分析。共有1054名患者报告对在线癌症信息有一定或很大程度的信任；154名患者报告对这类信息中度信任；833名患者报告对在线癌症信息、作为癌症相关信息来源的互联网网站或作为癌症相关信息媒介的互联网没有或几乎没有信任。七项研究中有两项报告了上述患者特征的组间比较。纳入研究的方法学质量各不相同。
纳入研究的结果表明，大约一半的癌症患者似乎信任特定癌症的在线信息、作为癌症相关信息来源的互联网网站或作为信息媒介的互联网。然而，纳入研究数量少、参与者、方法和结果的高度异质性需要进一步的系统研究。必须认识到，癌症患者确实并且将越来越多地使用受信任的癌症信息网站来搜索有关其疾病的信息。因此，医生和其他医疗保健提供者应向这些患者提供更多支持和建议。
