Abstract
Purpose
The aim of our study was to investigate Internet and eHealth usage, with respect to eHealth literacy, by cancer patients and their relatives.
Patients and methods
Using a standardized questionnaire we asked patients who attended lectures on complementary medicine in 2016.
Results
We received 142 questionnaires. The frequency of general Internet usage was directly associated with younger age and better Internet connection. Younger participants were not only more confident in allocating health-related Internet information into reliable or unreliable facts, but also more confident and capable of gaining medical knowledge through eHealth services. A regular use of eHealth services facilitated the decision-making process. Reading ability was associated with a better understanding regarding eHealth offers.
Conclusion
In a modern health care system, emphasis should be on skills contributing to eHealth literacy among patients to improve their ability to profit from eHealth offers and improve health care.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arora NK, Hesse BW, Rimer BK, Viswanath K, Clayman ML, Croyle RT (2008) Frustrated and confused: the American public rates its cancer-related information-seeking experiences. J Gen Intern Med 23:223–228. doi:10.1007/s11606-007-0406-y
Barnes MD, Penrod C, Neiger BL, Merrill RM, Thackeray R, Eggett DL, Thomas E (2003) Measuring the relevance of evaluation criteria among health information seekers on the Internet. J Health Psychol 8:71–82. doi:10.1177/1359105303008001436
Collins SA, Currie LM, Bakken S, Vawdrey DK, Stone PW (2012) Health literacy screening instruments for eHealth applications: a systematic review. J Biomed Inform 45:598–607. doi:10.1016/j.jbi.2012.04.001
Dewalt DA, Berkman ND, Sheridan S, Lohr KN, Pignone MP (2004) Literacy and health outcomes: a systematic review of the literature. J Gen Intern Med 19:1228–1239. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.40153.x
Ebel MD, Stellamanns J, Keinki C, Rudolph I, Huebner J (2015) Cancer patients and the Internet: a survey among German cancer patients. J Cancer Educ. doi:10.1007/s13187-015-0945-6
Eheman CR et al (2009) Information-seeking styles among cancer patients before and after treatment by demographics and use of information sources. J Health Commun 14:487–502. doi:10.1080/10810730903032945
Feufel MA, Stahl SF (2012) What do web-use skill differences imply for online health information searches? J Med Internet Res 14:e87. doi:10.2196/jmir.2051
Friedman DB, Hoffman-Goetz L (2008) Literacy and health literacy as defined in cancer education research: a systematic review. Health Educ J 67:285–304. doi:10.1177/0017896908097071
Gerd M (2003) Auf der Suche nach gesundheitlicher Information und Beratung: Befunde zum Wandel der Patientenrolle. Gesundheitsmonitor 2003, Die ambulante Versorgung aus Sicht von Bevölkerung und Ärzteschaft. Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung, Gütersloh
Gustafson DH et al (2008) Internet-based interactive support for cancer patients: are integrated systems better? J Commun 58:238–257. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2008.00383.x
Halbach SM, Enders A, Kowalski C, Pfortner TK, Pfaff H, Wesselmann S, Ernstmann N (2016) Health literacy and fear of cancer progression in elderly women newly diagnosed with breast cancer—a longitudinal analysis. Patient Educ Couns 99:855–862. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2015.12.012
Howard DH, Sentell T, Gazmararian JA (2006) Impact of health literacy on socioeconomic and racial differences in health in an elderly population. J Gen Intern Med 21:857–861. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2006.00530.x
Huebner J et al (2014) User rate of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) of patients visiting a counseling facility for CAM of a German comprehensive cancer center. Anticancer Res 34:943–948
Institute of Medicine Committee on Health L (2004). In: Nielsen-Bohlman L, Panzer AM, Kindig DA (eds) Health literacy: a prescription to end confusion. National Academies Press (US) Copyright 2004 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved, Washington (DC). doi:10.17226/10883
Jones R (2013) Development of a questionnaire and cross-sectional survey of patient eHealth readiness and eHealth inequalities. Medicine 20(2):e9. doi:10.2196/med20.2559
Keinki C et al (2016) Information needs of cancer patients and perception of impact of the disease, of self-efficacy, and locus of control. J Cancer Educ 31:610–616. doi:10.1007/s13187-015-0860-x
Laurent MR, Cremers S, Verhoef G, Dierickx D (2012) Internet use for health information among haematology outpatients: a cross-sectional survey. Inform Health Soc Care 37:62–73. doi:10.3109/17538157.2011.606481
Lee CJ, Ramirez AS, Lewis N, Gray SW, Hornik RC (2012) Looking beyond the Internet: examining socioeconomic inequalities in cancer information seeking among cancer patients. Health Commun 27:806–817. doi:10.1080/10410236.2011.647621
Ludgate MW et al (2011) Internet use and anxiety in people with melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer. Dermatol Surg 37:1252–1259. doi:10.1111/j.1524-4725.2011.02124.x
Morris NS, MacLean CD, Chew LD, Littenberg B (2006) The Single Item Literacy Screener: evaluation of a brief instrument to identify limited reading ability. BMC Fam Pract 7:21. doi:10.1186/1471-2296-7-21
Norman CD, Skinner HA (2006a) eHEALS: the eHealth literacy scale. J Med Internet Res 8:e27. doi:10.2196/jmir.8.4.e27
Norman CD, Skinner HA (2006b) eHealth literacy: essential skills for consumer health in a networked world. J Med Internet Res 8:e9. doi:10.2196/jmir.8.2.e9
Nutbeam D (2008) The evolving concept of health literacy. Soc Sci Med (1982) 67:2072–2078. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.09.050
Paasche-Orlow MK, Parker RM, Gazmararian JA, Nielsen-Bohlman LT, Rudd RR (2005) The prevalence of limited health literacy. J Gen Intern Med 20:175–184. doi:10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.40245.x
Paul M et al (2013) Patients with advanced cancer and their usage of complementary and alternative medicine. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 139:1515–1522. doi:10.1007/s00432-013-1460-y
Protiere C, Moumjid N, Bouhnik AD, Le Corroller Soriano AG, Moatti JP (2012) Heterogeneity of cancer patient information-seeking behaviors. Med Decis Mak 32:362–375. doi:10.1177/0272989x11415114
Ratzan SC, Parker RM (2000) Introduction. In: Selden CR, Zorn M, Ratzan SC (eds) National library of medicine current bibliographies in medicine: health literacy. National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda
Richards B, Colman AW, Hollingsworth RA (1998) The current and future role of the Internet in patient education. Int J Med Informatics 50:279–285
Sevices USDoHAH (2000) Healthy People 2010
Simonds SK (1974) Health education as social policy. Health Educ Monogr 2:1–10. doi:10.1177/10901981740020S102
Sorensen K, Van den Broucke S, Fullam J, Doyle G, Pelikan J, Slonska Z, Brand H (2012) Health literacy and public health: a systematic review and integration of definitions and models. BMC Public Health 12:80. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-80
van der Heide I, Wang J, Droomers M, Spreeuwenberg P, Rademakers J, Uiters E (2013) The relationship between health, education, and health literacy: results from the Dutch Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey. J Health Commun 18(Suppl 1):172–184. doi:10.1080/10810730.2013.825668
Ventura F, Ohlen J, Koinberg I (2013) An integrative review of supportive e-health programs in cancer care. Eur J Oncol Nurs 17:498–507. doi:10.1016/j.ejon.2012.10.007
Warren E, Footman K, Tinelli M, McKee M, Knai C (2014) Do cancer-specific websites meet patient’s information needs? Patient Educ Couns 95:126–136. doi:10.1016/j.pec.2013.12.013
Wasserman M, Baxter NN, Rosen B, Burnstein M, Halverson AL (2014) Systematic review of internet patient information on colorectal cancer surgery. Dis Colon Rectum 57:64–69. doi:10.1097/dcr.0000000000000011
Zok K (2/2014) Unterschiede bei der Gesundheitskompetenz Ergebnisse einer bundesweiten Repräsentativ-Umfrage unter gesetzlich Versicherten. AOK
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Research involving human participants and/or animals
The study has a positive vote of the ethics committee at the University Hospital of the Friedrich Schiller University at Jena (Number: 5153-05/17).
Informed consent
Informed consent was given by the participants by filling in the questionnaire.
Funding
There was no funding for this study.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Halwas, N., Griebel, L. & Huebner, J. eHealth literacy, Internet and eHealth service usage: a survey among cancer patients and their relatives. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 143, 2291–2299 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-017-2475-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-017-2475-6