Seven out of 10 Koreans who have experienced cancer felt the information regarding disease and treatment they received from diagnosis to the end of the battle was insufficient, a survey showed.
Such a result emphasized the need to strengthen educational programs that can help patients, pollsters said.
Listen to Patients, Korea’s first patient-oriented research service, released the result of its opinion poll, titled "The acquisition of disease and treatment information by cancer patients and their unmet needs,” conducted to celebrate its launching on Monday.
Amidahae, a nonprofit for cancer survivors, jointly surveyed 136 people who have experienced cancer. The ratio of men to women was 6.5 to 3.5. People in their 30s accounted for the largest share of 36 percent, followed by the 40s (35.5 percent), 20s (19.9 percent), 50s (6.6 percent), and 60s (2.2 percent). About 30 percent fought with the disease for five years or more, and the other 70 percent for less than five years.
The pollsters asked about the characteristics of the information-acquiring process and unfulfilled demands, such as “whether disease and treatment information was sufficient after diagnosis,” “what information was lacking,” “what channels they used to get information,” and “which channels were more reliable.”
Asked whether the information they searched after diagnosis was sufficient, 30.9 percent replied “sufficient,” and 69.1 percent answered, “insufficient.” Among negative respondents, 25 percent pointed to the shortage of information on therapies and treatments, followed by hospitals and medical professionals (19.9 percent) and treatment cost and medical welfare (12.2 percent).
Asked what information they felt most curious about upon diagnosis, the largest share of 31.6 percent pointed to “hospitals and medical professionals,” followed by disease information (26.5 percent) and therapies and treatments (19.1 percent). As the information-acquiring channel, 58.8 percent cited patients’ groups and communities (including online cafes), 19.9 percent pointed to the internet, and 12.5 percent cited other patients (acquaintances and friends).
To questions asking about the reliability of cancer-related information channels, the respondents trusted patient communities most, including online cafes (80.1 percent gave positive answers of “very reliable” and “somewhat reliable”), followed by videos showing doctors’ lectures (66.2 percent), YouTube and other social media (62.5 percent), and acquaintances and friends (60.3 percent).
“Although patients need to get information from survivors upon diagnosis and during treatment, it seems necessary for hospitals and medical professionals to strengthen customized education for their patients,” said Cho Jin-hee, chairperson of Amidahae.
Myung Sung-ok, the presentative of Listen to Patients, also said, “It is significant to release the first survey results. We will continue to plan more various subjects to improve the cancer treatment environment based on the voices of patients themselves.”
Listen to Patients is a research service specializing in patients and their guardians based on the belief that patient-oriented insight can contribute to creating a better environment for fighting against diseases. More information is available on its website at www.listentopatients.co.kr.