Internet educated patients, the patient-physician relationship, and cancer screening Yuliya Shneyderman

E-patients “(E-patients are) …citizens with health concerns who use the Internet as a health resource, studying up on their own disease (or those of friends and family members), finding better treatment centers and insisting on better care, providing other patients with invaluable medical assistance and support, and increasingly serving as important collaborators and advisors for their clinicians.” Ferguson et al., (2007) E-Patients: How they can help us heal health care.

Internet health information (IHI) Abundant Used by a large portion of the population ▫Digital divide (by age, gender, education) Concerns about accuracy/accessibility Used in conjunction with standard health care

Patient-physician relationships Calls for patient-centered care ▫Autonomy ▫Patient as partner Positive ratings of relationships => better self- care, better health outcomes Participatory relationships particularly important

Cancer Screening There are guidelines for screening for: ▫Colorectal cancer ▫Cervical cancer ▫Prostate cancer Who follows these guidelines?

Dissertation questions Who looks for Internet health information? How do physicians respond to Internet health information? Does this affect the patient- physician relationship? Do informed patients adhere better to cancer- screening guidelines?

Data/Analysis Health Information National Trends Survey, collected by National Cancer Institute Nationally representative dataset Will use structural equation modeling to answer questions IHI users or non-users Physician relationship Cancer screenings Physician reaction