• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4491-4499
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• 2012

Background: Breast cancer is the most frequent type of cancer among women in the world and the most common cause of deaths from cancer in females. In Turkey, breast cancer comes first in the list of the most frequent ten cancer types seen in women. As the incidence rate of breast cancer is high, many women having breast cancer in the family experience the breast cancer at secondhand. This study was carried out in an attempt to determine the information and support needs of women whose first-degree relatives have breast cancer and to what extent these needs are met. Methods: The research sample consisted of 156 women. Questionnaire Form and Information and Support Needs Questionnaires were used as the data collection tools. Results: Information need score averages ($x^-:3.72{\pm}0.19$) of women included in the research sampling were found to be higher than their score averages of support needs ($x^-:3.24{\pm}0.41$). Conclusion: Information needs which were indicated by women as very important were related to treatment, symptoms of breast cancer and breast self examination (BSE), while support needs which were indicated by women as very important were learning how to perform BSE, women's anxiety for themselves and their relatives regarding breast cancer and having their breasts examined by a health professional. It is recommended that nurses and other medical staff should give information to women whose first-degree relatives have breast cancer about the disease, its etiology, scanning, diagnosis, treatment options and protection as well as prevention.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.2983-2988
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• 2016

Recognizing cancer patients' preferences to obtain health information can help improve and reform the methods of communicating and providing proper services and consequently lead to effective patient education. The present cross-sectional study to prioritize the preferences of cancer patients regarding the acquisition of health informationwas conducted on cancer patients referred to hospitals affiliated to Semnan University of Medical Sciences in 2015. An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was developed. In the field of side effects of medications, 50 (46.7%) reported knowing about weight change, in the area of achieving relative health, 62(57.9%) announced awareness about diet, and 45 (42.1%) reported physical complications as a first regarding information needs. In the area of obtaining information, 50 (46.7%) tended to take their information through means outside of the hospital setting. These results can help with design of clinical information systems, as they inform the most relevant and useful coverage designed for cancer patients. Providing useful information through healthcare providers, the media and clinical information systems can act as a major source of social support for cancer patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6027-6032
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• 2012

Purpose: To identify cancer patient and relatives beliefs, information needs, information-seeking behavior and information sources about cancer and treatment. Methods: This research was conducted at two hospitals of a university. Data was collected via questionnaires and the Turkish version of the Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS) to assess information-seeking behavior. The sample included 82 patients and 54 relatives. Results: Patients were receiving treatment mostly for breast, gynecologic, lung cancer and leukemia/ lymphoma. All of them indicated that they want to be informed by a doctor about their diagnosis and treatment first. Other information sources were internet, media and nurses. The majority of the patients and half of their relatives agreed that "cancer is curable and preventable disease". Only 2.5% of patients agreed with the statement "I don't want to get information about disease which disturbs me". According the data obtained from MBSS; the mean patients MBSS score ($6.41{\pm}3.2$) was higher than their relatives ($5.46{\pm}3.1$). Respondents with higher education and younger age indicated more information-seeking behavior. Conclusions: Patients and their relatives differ in some of their information-seeking behavior. Patients beliefs and their strategies for coping with their illness can constrain their wish for information and their efforts to obtain it. Healthcare professionals need to assess and be sensitive to the information-seeking behavior of cancer patients and their relatives.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.2935-2937
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• 2014

Studies of the causes of cancer, early detection, prevention or treatment need accurate, comprehensive, and timely cancer data. The clinical laboratory provides important cancer information needed for physicians which influence clinical decisions regarding treatment, diagnosis and patient monitoring. Poor communication between health care providers and clinical laboratory personnel can lead to medical errors and wrong decisions in providing cancer care. Because of the key impact of laboratory information on cancer diagnosis and treatment the quality of the tests, lab reports, and appropriate lab management are very important. A laboratory information management system (LIMS) can have an important role in diagnosis, fast and effective access to cancer data, decrease redundancy and costs, and facilitate the integration and collection of data from different types of instruments and systems. In spite of significant advantages LIMS is limited by factors such as problems in adaption to new instruments that may change existing work processes. Applications of intelligent software simultaneously with existing information systems, in addition to remove these restrictions, have important benefits including adding additional non-laboratory-generated information to the reports, facilitating decision making, and improving quality and productivity of cancer care services. Laboratory systems must have flexibility to change and have the capability to develop and benefit from intelligent devices. Intelligent laboratory information management systems need to benefit from informatics tools and latest technologies like open sources. The aim of this commentary is to survey application, opportunities and necessity of intelligent clinical laboratory as a tool to increase cancer care management productivity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.2107-2111
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• 2013

Objectives: To investigate data agreement of cancer registries and medical records as well as the quality of care and assess their relationship in a 5-year period from 2006 to 2011. Methods: The present cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 443 cases summarized through census and using a checklist. Data agreement of Nemazi hospital-based cancer registry and the breast cancer prevention center was analyzed according to their corresponding medical records through adjusted and unadjusted Kappa. The process of care quality was also computed and the relationship with data agreement was investigated through chi-square test. Results: Agreement of surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy data between Nemazi hospital-based cancer registry and medical records was 62.9%, 78.5%, and 81%, respectively, while the figures were 93.2%, 87.9%, and 90.8%, respectively, between breast cancer prevention center and medical records. Moreover, quality of mastectomy, lumpectomy, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy services assessed in Nemazi hospital-based cancer registry was 12.6%, 21.2%, 35.2%, and 15.1% different from the corresponding medical records. On the other hand, 7.4%, 1.4%, 22.5%, and 9.6% differences were observed between the quality of the above-mentioned services assessed in the breast cancer prevention center and the corresponding medical records. A significant relationship was found between data agreement and quality assessment. Conclusion: Although the results showed good data agreement, more agreement regarding the cancer stage data elements and the type of the received treatment is required to better assess cancer care quality. Therefore, more structured medical records and stronger cancer registry systems are recommended.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5793-5800
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• 2015

Background: Outcome-expectation beliefs and knowledge may ultimately influence behavior for cancer prevention. The aims of this study were to measure changes in knowledge and beliefs about cancer prevention before and after viewing a television advertisement and identify the factors affecting receptivity to its messages. Materials and Methods: A one-group pretest-posttest design was used in this study of 1,000 individuals aged 20 to 65 years who were recruited online in November 2014. The outcome variables included cancer prevention beliefs based on the Health Belief Model (five items) and knowledge about risk factors for cancer (seven items). Results: Perceived susceptibility, perceived benefits, and self-efficacy increased significantly and their perceived severity and perceived barriers decreased significantly, after participants viewed the television advertisement. Correct responses to questions about risk factors also increased significantly, except for smoking. The main factors affecting changes in the outcome variables were age, interest in cancer prevention, social network, satisfaction with the ad, and pretest scores. Conclusions: Television advertisements with positive frameworks can be an efficient channel of improving beliefs and knowledge about cancer prevention in a short period. The continuous development of intervention materials that consider the demographics, needs, and satisfaction of the target group will be necessary for future studies.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.5-13
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• 2009

Purpose: This exploratory study was undertaken to analyze the information needs of family members of terminal cancer patients, collected through the telephone counselling service by National Cancer Information Center. Methods: The study included 113 family members of terminal cancer patients who had enrolled at the National Cancer Information Center for the period from June, 2007 through March, 2008 and had agreed to the survey. Results: The subjects (n=113) consisted of grown-up children (n=82) and spouses (n=8) of patients'. Those in their 40's (n=40) and 30's (n=36) accounted for the majority of the sample. The questions raised most were about the information on treatment methods (n=117), management of terminal cancer patients (n=46), terminal cancer patients' life (n=27), deathbed and prediction of remaining life (n=18), hospitalization (n=16), and financial support (n=15). Most of the subjects were satisfied with the telephone counseling services, and 69% of the subjects had come to know about the telephone counseling service via Internet, and 10.6% of them stated that the PR for the service was poor. Conclusion: It is deemed essential for the government to use the mass media for PR of the hospice services, since family members of terminal cancer patients' are less aware of the hospice conducive to enhancement of patients' remaining quality of life, being involued too deeply in their treatment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7757-7759
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• 2013

Physicians, in order to study the causes of cancer, detect cancer earlier, prevent or determine the effectiveness of treatment, and specify the reasons for the treatment ineffectiveness, need to access accurate, comprehensive, and timely cancer data. The cancer care environment has become more complex because of the need for coordination and communication among health care professionals with different skills in a variety of roles and the existence of large amounts of data with various formats. The goals of health care systems in such a complex environment are correct health data management, providing appropriate information needs of users to enhance the integrity and quality of health care, timely access to accurate information and reducing medical errors. These roles in new systems with use of agents efficiently perform well. Because of the potential capability of agent systems to solve complex and dynamic health problems, health care system, in order to gain full advantage of E- health, steps must be taken to make use of this technology. Multi-agent systems have effective roles in health service quality improvement especially in telemedicine, emergency situations and management of chronic diseases such as cancer. In the design and implementation of agent based systems, planning items such as information confidentiality and privacy, architecture, communication standards, ethical and legal aspects, identification opportunities and barriers should be considered. It should be noted that usage of agent systems only with a technical view is associated with many problems such as lack of user acceptance. The aim of this commentary is to survey applications, opportunities and barriers of this new artificial intelligence tool for cancer care information as an approach to improve cancer care management.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5549-5556
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• 2015

Background: Cancer has important social consequences with cancer registration as the basis of moving towards prevention. The present study aimed to estimate the completeness of registration of the ten most common cancers in patients referred to selected hospitals in Shiraz, Iran by using capture-recapture method. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was performed in 2014 based on the data of 2009, on a total of 4,388 registered cancer patients. After cleaning data from two sources, using capture-recapture common findings were identified. Then, the percentage of the completeness of cancer registration was estimated using Chapman and Chao methods. Finally, the effects of demographic and treatment variables on the completeness of cancer registration were investigated. Results: The results showed that the percentages of completeness of cancer registration in the selected hospitals of Shiraz were 58.6% and 58.4%, and influenced by different variables. The age group between 40-49 years old was the highest represented and for the age group under 20 years old was the lowest for cancer registration. Breast cancer had the highest registration level and after that, thyroid and lung cancers, while colorectal cancer had the lowest registration level. Conclusions: According to the results, the number of cancers registered was very few and it seems that factors like inadequate knowledge of some doctors, imprecise diagnosis about the types of cancer, incorrectly filled out medical documents, and lack of sufficient accuracy in recording data on the computer cause errors and defects in cancer registration. This suggests a necessity to educate and teach doctors and other medical workers about the methods of documenting information related to cancer and also conduct additional measures to improve the cancer registration system.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.2071-2077
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• 2013

Esophageal cancer is a mjaor health problems in many parts of the world. A geographical information system (GIS) allows investigation of the geographical distribution of diseases. The purpose of the present study was to explore the relationship between esophageal cancer and effective climatic factors using GIS. The dispersion distribution and the relationship between environmental factors effective on cancer were measured using Arc GIS. The highest degree of spread was in Germi town and the least was in Ardabil city. There was a significant relationship between effective environmental factors and esophageal cancer in Ardabil province. The results indicated that environmental factors probably are influential in determining the incidence of esophageal cancer. Also, these results can be considered as a window to future comprehensive research on esophageal cancer and related risk factors.