Clinicians should recommend cancer sites

Clinicians need to recommend websites on which patients can find accurate information about chemotherapy as patients place value on such online advice, researchers have concluded.

A study on the impact of online information about chemotherapy, published in the British Journal of Cancer, found many patients use websites for information - but few clinicians recommend them.

The researchers from Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust questioned 204 patients who were receiving chemotherapy.

Around half of those patients used the internet for information but 81% said health professionals rarely recommended websites to them.

The study also found that more than 50% of those using the internet for information said they needed further information and wanted to have the opportunity for discussion with health professionals.

Elaine Davies, one of the study author’s and principal pharmacist in the department of oncology and haematology at Northampton General, recommended that health professionals find out what information patients are most interested in and decide how they can offer guidance on credible websites.

She added: “It’s undeniable that reliable information can improve patients’ understanding of chemotherapy and can be a good way of tailoring consultations to address the individual needs of a patient.”

The researchers also questioned 47 health professionals at the Northampton oncology centre, of whom around half were consultant oncologists and specialist registrars and half specialist oncology nurses.

All respondents believed that it was essential for the centre to offer information, while only 70% thought the internet was an important additional information resource.

A majority of the respondents said online chemotherapy information was inaccurate at times and claimed it could be potentially harmful to patients, by providing misleading information and increasing anxiety.

However, the researchers concluded that the role of internet information was likely to grow in the future and that it was vital for patients to have access to good quality and accurate information, recommended by their clinicians.

Dr Kheng-Wei Yeoh, another study author based at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospital Trust, said: “Discussion of internet chemotherapy information could in fact be an opportunity to strengthen this relationship [with patients] by clearing up any concerns, relieving anxiety and helping to make difficult decisions.”

Websites that were commonly cited by patients including Cancer Research UK’s main website and its information site CancerHelp UK, as well as websites from Macmillan, BreastCancercare.org.uk and BeatingBowelCancer.org.uk.

Liz Woolf, head of CancerHelp UK at Cancer Research UK, said CancerHelp UK was easy to access, written in simple language and peer-reviewed by cancer experts to provide information that patients could take in at their own pace.

She added: We know how important reliable information is to patients – for the past ten years Cancer Research UK has been involved in programmes to ensure quality.

“In 2009, CancerHelp UK and Cancer Research UK’s health information leaflets were awarded the Information Standard, the Department of Health’s accreditation scheme for information quality.

“In addition, the Department of Health Information Prescriptions programme is now providing reliable information, including Cancer Research UK’s, to patients within the NHS.”