06.05.2008 at 08:00
- Category:
Cancer and Oncology
One in 20 Web pages intended to disseminate information about breast cancer contained inaccuracies and Web sites displaying complementary and alternative medicine were 15 times more likely to contain false or misleading health information, researchers have found.
The study was conducted by the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in collaboration with researchers at the University of Texas School of Health Information Sciences at Houston as one of a series of studies to determine whether existing quality assessment tools can identify false or inaccurate breast cancer information available online.
Funda Meric-Bemstam, M.D., associate professor of surgery at M.D. Andetson, says that many of her patients have gone on the Internet for education and are savvy in their breast cancer knowledge even before their first appointment with her.
"Often it's dearly a benefit," says Meric-Bernstam, the study's senior author "For example, I've had patients who were recommended mastectomies that were really breast conservation candidates. They actually figured this out by going online and then seeking out surgeons capable of performing the surgery."
However, Meric-Bemstam says, sometimes patients read about treatments that dearly do not apply to them, which can increase their level of anxiety or expectations for a treatment that they are not a candidate for.
"Of course, one also worries about patients who go online and then [because of misinformation] ultimately do not seek out any treatment despite it being necessary," she says.
The researchers say that breast cancer information available on the Internet is more accurate than other fields of health information, Meric-Bemstam says.
The researchers ultimately hope to develop a screening or automated tool to help consumers eliminate sites with misinformation. "However, our current recommendation to patients is to be skeptical, make sure what patients read is applicable to their specific medical well-being and not to take action without consulting a clinician," Meric-Bernstram says. The study was published in the March 15 issue of the journal Cancer.
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