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Information Preferences (information + preference)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	75%

Selected Abstracts

ALS patients and caregivers communication preferences and information seeking behaviour

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 1 2008
A. Chiò
To evaluate information preferences and information seeking behaviour in ALS patients and caregivers. Sixty ALS patients and caregivers couples were interviewed using a structured questionnaire about the content of diagnosis communication and their information seeking behaviour. The patients (35 men and 25 women) had a mean age of 63.4 years (SD 9.5). The caregivers (21 men and 39 women) had a mean age of 53.3 years (SD 14.9). The overall satisfaction with bad news communication and the impression that the physician had understood their feelings were higher amongst patients. Both parties indicated that the most important aspects to be informed were current researches, disease-modifying therapies and ALS outcome. Approximately 55% of patients and 83.3% of caregivers searched for information from sources outside the healthcare system. The most frequently checked source was internet, although its reliability was rated low. The caring neurologist should better attune the content of communication to patients' and caregivers' preferences, trying to understand what they want to know and encouraging them to make precise questions. Health professionals should be aware that ALS patients and caregivers often use internet to obtain information and should help them to better sort-out and interpret the news they found. [source]

Effects of interval between diagnosis and time of survey upon preferred information format for prostate cancer patients

JOURNAL OF MEDICAL IMAGING AND RADIATION ONCOLOGY, Issue 2 2009
CF Sharpley
Summary Previous data indicate that receiving adequate information about their cancer can assist patients to cope with treatment and comply with treatment regimes. The aim of the present study was to determine whether time since diagnosis affected patients' evaluations of the information they had received at the time of their diagnosis. Two hundred and thirty-seven patients who had received a diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancer 4 months earlier completed a questionnaire about their ratings of, and preferences for, various types of information, their anxiety and depression levels and some background data. The most common and preferred form of information that the patients in the current study received was verbal information during an interview with their oncologist. Demographic factors and levels of anxiety and depression did not influence patient information preferences. Time since diagnosis was associated with elevated anxiety and depression, and consequent lower recall of having received information, but also with positive inflation of the value of the material that they did recall having received. Patients may not recall information given to them early after diagnosis and may make unreliable evaluations of its value to them due to psychological state. [source]

Fast surfers, broad scanners and deep divers as users of information technology , Relating information preferences to personality traits

PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2003
Jannica Heinström
This paper will discuss the influence of personality traits and approaches to studying on students' information-seeking behavior, with a specific focus on their use of information technology. The results were obtained in a study of 305 university students who completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory measuring personality, the ASSIST test measuring approaches to studying and a questionnaire regarding information seeking behavior. Three information-seeking patterns emerged from the analyses; Fast surfers, Broad scanners and Deep divers. These patterns could be related to different personality traits and study approaches. The influence of personality and study approaches on information-seeking behavior points to the importance of customizing information services to meet individual needs. [source]

Information needs and prostate cancer: the development of a systematic means of identification

BJU INTERNATIONAL, Issue 1 2004
Jeremy Dale
OBJECTIVE To design, from first principles, a valid and reliable scale for assessing the importance of specific items of information needed by patients with prostate cancer that would be straightforward to use in clinical settings, as despite its prevalence, there is little research focusing specifically on the information needs associated with prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS Several stages of consultation and modification were used to inform the development of a scale which was then piloted on 96 patients with prostate cancer. Respondents were asked to rate the importance they placed on a range of prostate cancer-related topics of information, and the extent to which they felt these information needs had been met. The construct and content validity of the instrument were established and an exploratory factor analysis used to guide restructuring of the tool. Internal consistency/reliability was calculated using Cronbach's ,. RESULTS Using the scale showed that men with prostate cancer placed considerable importance on a broad range of information needs, most of which had been inadequately met. Age had a significant influence on the overall importance attributed to information, with younger patients having more need for information. The construct and content validity of the instrument were established. The factor analysis revealed four discrete factors which together explained >,68% of the variance, termed ,basics of prostate cancer care', ,disease management', ,physical well-being' and ,self-help'. Internal consistency/reliability was satisfactory (, = 0.91). CONCLUSIONS The basis of a tool capable of ascertaining the information needs of patients with prostate cancer was developed; it may offer clinicians a valid means of ascertaining information preferences and hence potentially enhance the quality of service provided. Further research is now required to refine the tool and test the effect of its longitudinal use in clinical practice on patient satisfaction and outcome. [source]