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Numerous Internet-based peer support groups exist to support the informational needs of patients with chronic illnesses. By analyzing the discussions available in the forum of a major ovarian cancer support group, the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (OCNA), this study investigates the type of information that newly diagnosed ovarian cancer patients and their supporters seek. Using content analysis, 206 publicly available discussion posts exchanged on OCNA were analyzed by two researchers. Each discussion point was classified into one of the three broad themes that emerged: ovarian cancer-specific, treatment-related, or coping information. The discussion points were further analyzed using a multinomial logit model to predict the type of the desired information based on the role of the person looking for the information, the disease phase in which the information was sought, the emotional status of the information seeker, and the stage of the cancer. The results suggest that there is a wide variety of information seekers with divergent goals. Treatment-related material was the most sought-after information by patients, while coping information was most sought by supporters. When forum posts were negative in tone, the information seekers were more likely to be looking for ovarian cancer-specific information than either treatment-related information or coping information. This suggests that the presentation of ovarian cancer-specific information should be particularly sensitive to the negative emotional state of the people seeking this information.
Madathil et al. (Sun,) studied this question.