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Demand for Spanish-Language Cancer web
materials quadruples; Internet resources and
access remain scarce
Newswise — Although Spanish-speaking cancer
patients are rapidly increasing their search
for patient education resources on the
Internet, there are very few
Spanish-language Web sites available to
provide this information, according to a
study presented October 28, 2007, at the
American Society for Therapeutic Radiology
and Oncology’s 49th Annual Meeting in Los
Angeles.
Spanish-speaking cancer patients were also
shown to have more limited access to the
Internet compared to English-speaking users
of cancer information Web sites, based on
the user patterns of the two groups.
“There is an urgent need for more Web-based
information to be more available to
Spanish-speaking patients with cancer, and
Internet access needs to be more widely
available,” said Charles Simone II, M.D.,
lead author of the study and a radiation
oncologist at the Hospital of the University
of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
“The increased knowledge gained among these
patients will help to eliminate healthcare
disparities and lead to improved medical
outcomes.”
The Spanish-language cancer information Web
site, OncoLink en español, quadrupled their
number of unique visitors last year, from
7,000 visitors per month in January 2006 to
nearly 29,000 monthly visitors by the end of
the year. More than 200,000 users visited
the Web site in 2006.
In contrast, the English-language version of
the site, OncoLink, had nearly 2 million
visitors last year, although their number of
unique visitors did not increase throughout
the year. OncoLink en espanõl was launched
in 2005 by OncoLink, one of the oldest and
largest Internet-based cancer information
resources. Both sites are managed by the
University of Pennsylvania.
The study shows that OncoLink en español
users were less likely to browse the
Internet during weekends and morning hours,
compared to the users who browsed OncoLink,
suggesting that they are accessing the
Internet more through work or specialized
services.
In addition to when they accessed the
Internet, OncoLink en español users also
differed on the types of cancers they
searched for, as well as the timing and
method of their Internet search patterns.
“Awareness of these differences can assist
cancer education Web sites to tailor their
content to best meet the needs of their
Spanish-speaking users,” said Dr. Simone.
The study was carried out using AWStats, a
Web-data analyzing program, to collect and
compare statistical data from the secure
servers of both language versions of
OncoLink.
For more information on radiation therapy in
English and in Spanish, visit
http://www.some.com.
The abstract, “The Utilization of Radiation
Oncology Web-based Resources in
Spanish-speaking Oncology Patients,” will be
presented for poster viewing starting at
10:00 a.m, Sunday, October 28, 2007. To
speak to the study author, Charles Simone,
II, M.D, please call Beth Bukata or Nicole
Napoli October 28-31, 2007, in the ASTRO
Press Room at the Los Angeles Convention
Center
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