Online Educational Tool to Promote Bone Health in Cancer Survivors

Abstract

Osteoporosis burden is significant in cancer survivors. Websites providing health information abound, but their development, quality, and source of information remain unclear. Our aim was to use a systematic and transparent approach to create an educational website on bone health, and to evaluate its potential to improve knowledge, self-management, and awareness in prostate cancer (PCa) and breast cancer (BCa) survivors. Guided by the Health Belief Model, we created a website using international standards and evaluated it in 10 PCa and 10 BCa survivors with self-administered questionnaire before, after, and 1 month after navigating the website. The mean scores on the knowledge questionnaire at baseline, postintervention and 1 month were, respectively, 5.1 (±2.0), 6.9 (±2.5), and 6.7 (±2.4), p < .008, in PCa and 3.4 (±2.7), 7.6 (±3.0), and 6.5 (±3.8), p  = .016, in BCa survivors. Acceptability ratings ranged from 60% to 100%. Participants found the website useful, helpful, and able to raise bone health awareness. Our website improved bone health knowledge in both PCa and BCa survivors. A systematic and transparent approach to the development of online educational websites could result in a tool capable of meeting the educational needs of targeted consumers. Cancer survivors could benefit from proven online educational tools.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Noha Abdelwahab Hassan, MD, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Department of Internal Medicine for her valuable contributions during the design of the website; Maithili A. Shethia, MD, The University of Texas, School of Public Health for her assistance during the usability testing phase of this study; and the e-Health Technology Program for the creation of the website and database to support content updates.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental data for this article (three appendices describing usability testing results in the design phase) can be accessed on the publisher's website.

Funding

This work was supported, in part, by the Duncan Family Institute for Cancer Prevention and Risk Assessment and the Cancer Center Support Grant (NCI CA16672 to E. Dmitrovsky).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported, in part, by the Duncan Family Institute for Cancer Prevention and Risk Assessment and the Cancer Center Support Grant (NCI CA16672 to E. Dmitrovsky).