Profiles of 800,000 Users of the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service Since the Debut of Online Assistance, 2003-2008

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Bush, Nigel ; Vanderpool, Robin ; Cofta-Woerpel, Ludmila ; Wallace, Phyllis
• Description:
  Introduction ; In 2002, the Cancer Information Service (CIS) of the National Cancer Institute added to its toll-free telephone number 2 choices of media for access to cancer information specialists: e-mail and a proprietary online instant messaging service called Live Help. We sought to determine how new media users differ from telephone callers and the US population in general. ; Methods ; During the 6 years since the new media were added, we collected data from more than 800,000 people who contacted CIS. ; Results ; Telephone calls to CIS declined while the number of Live Help and e-mail inquiries steadily increased. People who contacted CIS by telephone and Live Help were predominantly white and female and, compared with the general population, were relatively well educated. Live Help users were significantly younger, more educated, and more affluent than telephone callers. CIS clients asked most frequently for general cancer site information, information about treatment and side effects management, screening programs, and economic assistance. Telephone callers most often asked about breast cancer. ; Conclusion ; The Internet has introduced new sources of health information and possibly a new type of health information seeker. With Live Help and e-mail, CIS is poised to meet the needs of the digital health consumer and also the traditional telephone caller.
• Subjects:
  • Electronic Mail
  • Female
  • Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
  • Humans
  • Information Services
  • Internet
  • Male
  • Online Systems
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Time Factors
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 7(2).
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Corporate as Subject:
  National Cancer Institute (U.S.) ; National Cancer Institute (U.S.)
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  7
• Issue:
  2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/20440/cdc_20440_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 475.77 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f40d3d6653a5442c7c84955f9d364dcdaafa5b41f9c4ebd883bada06466bbbd1faa53e179ffbf145490f862d27361ba0552de9712412f3b5f78573ff8422eb46