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Rose Clark-Hitt1
Marleah Dean2
Sandi W. Smith1
Samantha Nazione1
Charles Atkin1
Pamela Whitten1
1
Michigan State University, 2 University of New Mexico
Background: Breast Cancer Prevalence &
Health Information on Internet
Breast Cancer Prevalence
 New cases diagnosed per year (over 250,000)
 Deaths each year from breast cancer (over 40,000)
Internet and Health
 Over 80% of Americans report using the internet
to visit health websites (Fox, 2006)
 41% of BC patients use internet for information
(Fogel, 2002)
Background: Prior Content Analysis
Research
Breast cancer news media content analyses
 Newspapers
 TV news
Breast cancer website content analysis
 Content & website quality
Background: Purpose of Present
Content Analysis
 Goal to provide comprehensive review of breast
cancer information on the web, extending prior
content analyses
 Breast Cancer and the Environment Research
Center grant
 Goal to learn about environmental factors that
may increase risks for breast cancer and to
communicate to public
Background
 Examined following categories of content:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Awareness
Environmental risks
Prevention
Detection
Treatment
Social Support
Survivorship
Method
 Sample
 Google, Yahoo, & MSN
 Unit of analysis
 Individual web page
 N= 415
 Ordinal coding




Main focus of web page (3)
Secondary focus of web page(2)
Mention only on web page(1)
Absent on web page (0)
 2 coders established reliability
Results for Overall Categories
Content Area
Major Emphasis
Minor Emphasis
No Content
Awareness
16%
36%
47%
Environmental
Risks
13%
36%
50%
Prevention
16%
45%
39%
Detection
9%
43%
48%
Treatment
22%
41%
38%
Social Support
2%
30%
67%
Survivorship
4%
34%
63%
Results
Awareness
Environmental Risks
 Most common awareness
 The most prevalent topic
topic was information about
breast cancer such as types
and stages (about 39%)
 About 4% of pages had
prevalence in terms of
number of cases
with a major emphasis was
exposure to chemicals (5%)
 For minor content, greatest
number of web pages
mentioned avoiding
unhealthy diet (10.7%) and
the role of hormones (10.5%).
Results
Prevention
Detection
 Very little content on parental
 About a third contained
prevention behaviors to help
daughters (1.2% had minor
emphasis)
 About 10% had minor
emphasis and 5% major
emphasis on individual
prevention
information about symptoms
 Mammograms appeared in
about 16%
 BSE, X-ray, and MRI in about
5%
Results
Treatment
Survivorship & Social Support
 Chemotherapy most common
 Survivorship most common
treatment topic (33%),
followed by surgical
procedures (23%), radiation
(20%), and holistic medicine
(5%)
content related to side effects
of treatment (about 5%)
 For social support, the most
common content was
network support (about 13%)
Implications & Conclusions
 Most common topics: treatment & prevention
 Prevention: similar findings with prior work showing
most prevention messages are directed at self, not
helping others prevent breast cancer
 Little coverage of parental prevention
 Environmental risks: hormones, avoiding particular
chemicals, foods
 Limitations: small sample of availability on internet;
search terms, & patterns of use
Implications & Conclusions
 Provides insight on content women are
exposed to when searching popular websites
 May provide insight for website design to
better serve women
 Future directions

Agenda setting and how content on web pages
influences perceptions of what topics are
important regarding breast cancer
Websites
Cornell University Program on Breast
Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors
envirocancer.cornell.edu
Breast Cancer and the Environment
Research Centers
bcerc.org/home.htm
BreastCancer.Org
breastcancer.org
Breast Cancer Fund
breastcancerfund.org
National Breast Cancer Coalition
stopbreastcancer.org
National Institute of Environmental and
Health Sciences
niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/centers/breastcancer/index.cfm
Yahoo Health
health.yahoo.com/breastcancer-overview/breast-cancertopic-overview/healthwise--tv3617.html
Mayo Clinic
mayoclinic.com/health/breast-cancer/DS00328
oncolink.org/types/article.cfm?c=3&s=5&ss=33&id=8320
Oncolink
The National Cancer Institute
Wikpedia
cancer.gov/cancerinfo/types/breast
cancer.gov/cancerinfo/pdqratmentbreas/helathprofessional/allpages
/print
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_cancer
BreastCancer.net
breastcancernet.org
American Cancer Society
cancer.org/docroot/CRI/CRI_2x.asp?sitearea=LRN&dt=5
The National Cancer Institute