Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Odds of Meeting Cancer Prevention Behavior Recommendations by Health Information Seeking Behavior: a Cross-Sectional HINTS Analysis

  • Published:
Journal of Cancer Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

People who seek health information frequently may be more likely to meet health behavior goals; however, people use many different information sources. The purpose of this paper is to assess how different sources of health information influence likelihood of meeting cancer prevention behavior guidelines. Logistic regression of cross-sectional data from 6 years of the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) was conducted. Independent variables included first source of health information, gender, age, race, education level, income, cancer history, general health, and data year; dependent variables were fruit and vegetable intake, exercise, smoking, mammography, Pap test, and colon cancer screening. Those who seek health information from doctors, the internet, or publications had higher odds of meeting more cancer prevention guidelines than those who do not seek health information. Those who used healthcare providers as an initial information source had higher odds of meeting diet, cervical, and colon cancer screening recommendations, while using the internet as an initial source of health information was associated with higher odds of meeting diet, smoking, and colon cancer screening recommendations. No health information source was associated with meeting either exercise or mammography recommendations. People should be encouraged to seek health information to help them meet their behavior goals, especially from sources that are more likely to be accurate and encourage cancer prevention behavior. Future research is needed to understand the accuracy of health information and what kinds of health information have positive influences on cancer prevention behavior.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability Statement

This study uses publicly available data from the National Cancer Institute at hints.cancer.gov.

References

  1. Blanch-Hartigan D, Viswanath K (2015) Socioeconomic and sociodemographic predictors of cancer-related information sources used by cancer survivors. J Health Commun 20(2):204–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2014.921742

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Hornik R, Parvanta S, Mello S, Freres D, Kelly B, Schwartz JS (2013) Effects of scanning (routine health information exposure) on cancer screening and prevention behaviors in the general population. J Health Commun 18(12):1422–1435. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2013.798381

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Shim M, Kelly B, Hornik R (2006) Cancer information scanning and seeking behavior is associated with knowledge, lifestyle choices, and screening. J Health Commun 11(Suppl 1):157–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kabat GC, Matthews CE, Kamensky V, Hollenbeck AR, Rohan TE (2015) Adherence to cancer prevention guidelines and cancer incidence, cancer mortality, and total mortality: a prospective cohort study. Am J Clin Nutr 101(3):558–569. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.114.094854

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Pirie K, Peto R, Reeves GK, Green J, Beral V, Collaborators MWS (2013) The 21st century hazards of smoking and benefits of stopping: a prospective study of one million women in the UK. Lancet 381(9861):133–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61720-6

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Thomson CA, McCullough ML, Wertheim BC, Chlebowski RT, Martinez ME, Stefanick ML et al (2014) Nutrition and physical activity cancer prevention guidelines, cancer risk, and mortality in the women’s health initiative. Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 7(1):42–53. https://doi.org/10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-13-0258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Shneyderman Y, Rutten LJ, Arheart KL, Byrne MM, Kornfeld J, Schwartz SJ (2016) Health information seeking and cancer screening adherence rates. J Cancer Educ 31(1):75–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-015-0791-6

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Brenner H, Stock C, Hoffmeister M (2014) Effect of screening sigmoidoscopy and screening colonoscopy on colorectal cancer incidence and mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and observational studies. BMJ 348:g2467. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g2467

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Landy R, Pesola F, Castañón A, Sasieni P (2016) Impact of cervical screening on cervical cancer mortality: estimation using stage-specific results from a nested case-control study. Br J Cancer 115(9):1140–1146. https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2016.290

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  10. Nelson HD, Fu R, Cantor A, Pappas M, Daeges M, Humphrey L (2016) Effectiveness of breast cancer screening: systematic review and meta-analysis to update the 2009 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation. Ann Intern Med 164(4):244–255. https://doi.org/10.7326/M15-0969

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Finney Rutten LJ, Agunwamba AA, Wilson P, Chawla N, Vieux S, Blanch-Hartigan D, Arora NK, Blake K, Hesse BW (2016) Cancer-related information seeking among cancer survivors: trends over a decade (2003-2013). J Cancer Educ 31(2):348–357. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-015-0802-7

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Fox S (2011) Health topics: 80% of internet users look for health information online. Pew Research Center. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/HealthTopics.aspx. Accessed 8 Mar 2019

  13. Prestin A, Vieux SN, Chou WY (2015) Is online health activity alive and well or flatlining? Findings from 10 years of the Health Information National Trends Survey. J Health Commun 20(7):790–798. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2015.1018590

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Sbaffi L, Rowley J (2017) Trust and credibility in web-based health information: a review and agenda for future research. J Med Internet Res 19(6):e218. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.7579

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Benigeri M, Pluye P (2003) Shortcomings of health information on the Internet. Health Promot Int 18(4):381–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Hesse BW, Nelson DE, Kreps GL, Croyle RT, Arora NK, Rimer BK, Viswanath K (2005) Trust and sources of health information: the impact of the Internet and its implications for health care providers: findings from the first Health Information National Trends Survey. Arch Intern Med 165(22):2618–2624

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Shea-Budgell MA, Kostaras X, Myhill KP, Hagen NA (2014) Information needs and sources of information for patients during cancer follow-up. Curr Oncol 21(4):165–173. https://doi.org/10.3747/co.21.1932

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  18. Volkman JE, Luger TM, Harvey KL, Hogan TP, Shimada SL, Amante D et al (2014) The National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trends Survey [HINTS]: a national cross-sectional analysis of talking to your doctor and other healthcare providers for health information. BMC Fam Pract 15:111. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2296-15-111

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Kontos E, Blake KD, Chou WY, Prestin A (2014) Predictors of eHealth usage: insights on the digital divide from the Health Information National Trends Survey 2012. J Med Internet Res 16(7):e172. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.3117

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Moldovan-Johnson M, Martinez L, Lewis N, Freres D, Hornik RC (2014) The role of patient-clinician information engagement and information seeking from nonmedical channels in fruit and vegetable intake among cancer patients. J Health Commun 19(12):1359–1376. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2014.906521

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Redmond N, Baer HJ, Clark CR, Lipsitz S, Hicks LS (2010) Sources of health information related to preventive health behaviors in a national study. Am J Prev Med 38(6):620–627.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2010.03.001

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. National Cancer Institute (2019) HINTS survey instruments. http://hints.cancer.gov/instrument.aspx. Accessed 8 Mar 2019

  23. National Cancer Institute (2019) Frequently asked questions about HINTS. http://hints.cancer.gov/faq.aspx. Accessed 22 July 2019

  24. Oeffinger KC, Fontham ET, Etzioni R, Herzig A, Michaelson JS, Shih YC, Walter LC, Church TR, Flowers CR, LaMonte S, Wolf AM, DeSantis C, Lortet-Tieulent J, Andrews K, Manassaram-Baptiste D, Saslow D, Smith RA, Brawley OW, Wender R, American Cancer Society (2015) Breast cancer screening for women at average risk: 2015 guideline update from the American Cancer Society. JAMA 314(15):1599–1614. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2015.12783

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  25. Feldman S (2011) Making sense of the new cervical-cancer screening guidelines. N Engl J Med 365:2145–2147. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp1112532

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Ramírez AS, Freres D, Martinez LS, Lewis N, Bourgoin A, Kelly BJ, Lee CJ, Nagler R, Schwartz JS, Hornik RC (2013) Information seeking from media and family/friends increases the likelihood of engaging in healthy lifestyle behaviors. J Health Commun 18(5):527–542. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2012.743632

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Nagler RH (2014) Adverse outcomes associated with media exposure to contradictory nutrition messages. J Health Commun 19(1):24–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2013.798384

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Lee CJ, Nagler RH, Wang N (2018) Source-specific exposure to contradictory nutrition information: documenting prevalence and effects on adverse cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Health Commun 33(4):453–461. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2016.1278495

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Demark-Wahnefried W, Rogers LQ, Alfano CM, Thomson CA, Courneya KS, Meyerhardt JA, Stout NL, Kvale E, Ganzer H, Ligibel JA (2015) Practical clinical interventions for diet, physical activity, and weight control in cancer survivors. CA Cancer J Clin 65(3):167–189. https://doi.org/10.3322/caac.21265

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Sirard JR, Bruening M, Wall MM, Eisenberg ME, Kim SK, Neumark-Sztainer D (2013) Physical activity and screen time in adolescents and their friends. Am J Prev Med 44(1):48–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2012.09.054

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  31. Simpkins SD, Schaefer DR, Price CD, Vest AE (2013) Adolescent friendships, BMI, and physical activity: untangling selection and influence through longitudinal social network analysis. J Res Adolesc 23(3):537–549. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2012.00836.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Graham DJ, Pelletier JE, Neumark-Sztainer D, Lust K, Laska MN (2013) Perceived social-ecological factors associated with fruit and vegetable purchasing, preparation, and consumption among young adults. J Acad Nutr Diet 113(10):1366–1374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2013.06.348

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Huerta TR, Walker DM, Johnson T, Ford EW (2016) A time series analysis of cancer-related information seeking: hints from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) 2003-2014. J Health Commun 21(9):1031–1038. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2016.1204381

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Rutten LJ, Squiers L, Hesse B (2006) Cancer-related information seeking: hints from the 2003 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). J Health Commun 11(Suppl 1):147–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking, College of Medicine, Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, The Ohio State University, 460 Medical Center Drive, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Christine M. Swoboda, Daniel M. Walker & Timothy Huerta

  2. Department of Biomedical Informatics, College of Medicine, Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, The Ohio State University, 460 Medical Center Drive, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Daniel M. Walker & Timothy Huerta

  3. Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, The Ohio State University, 460 Medical Center Drive, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Daniel M. Walker & Timothy Huerta

Authors
  1. Christine M. Swoboda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daniel M. Walker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Timothy Huerta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christine M. Swoboda.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Disclaimer

The research presented in this paper is that of the authors and does not reflect the National Cancer Institute.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic Supplementary Material

ESM 1

(DOCX 37.1 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Swoboda, C.M., Walker, D.M. & Huerta, T. Odds of Meeting Cancer Prevention Behavior Recommendations by Health Information Seeking Behavior: a Cross-Sectional HINTS Analysis. J Canc Educ 36, 56–64 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-019-01597-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-019-01597-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation