• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.28-52
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• 2024

This study aims to analyze multiple predictors of information seeking behavior, including information seeking intention about breast cancer, using the risk information seeking and processing (RISP) model. Data from 680 female respondents shows that when individuals perceived the risk of breast cancer, they felt more negative emotions, such as anxiety and nervousness, which increased the need for more information about the risk and tendency to seek information. In addition, information subjective norms were positively related with information seeking intention. When individuals felt they lacked relevant information, their seeking intention increased. Lastly, seeking intention led to breast cancer screening intention.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.3579-3586
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• 2015

Geographic information system (GIS) technology has useful applications for epidemiology, enabling the detection of spatial patterns of disease dispersion and locating geographic areas at increased risk. In this study, we applied GIS technology to characterize the spatial pattern of mortality due to liver cancer in the autonomous region of Guangxi Zhuang in southwest China. A database with liver cancer mortality data for 1971-1973, 1990-1992, and 2004-2005, including geographic locations and climate conditions, was constructed, and the appropriate associations were investigated. It was found that the regions with the highest mortality rates were central Guangxi with Guigang City at the center, and southwest Guangxi centered in Fusui County. Regions with the lowest mortality rates were eastern Guangxi with Pingnan County at the center, and northern Guangxi centered in Sanjiang and Rongshui counties. Regarding climate conditions, in the 1990s the mortality rate of liver cancer positively correlated with average temperature and average minimum temperature, and negatively correlated with average precipitation. In 2004 through 2005, mortality due to liver cancer positively correlated with the average minimum temperature. Regions of high mortality had lower average humidity and higher average barometric pressure than did regions of low mortality. Our results provide information to benefit development of a regional liver cancer prevention program in Guangxi, and provide important information and a reference for exploring causes of liver cancer.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.286-295
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• 2000

Nurses play an important role in patient education, including providing patients with useful and appropriate information. The purpose of this study was to explore what particular types of information were important to women diagnosed with breast cancer. Sixty seven women with breast cancer an outpatient clinic in W Christian Hospital responded to the structured questionnaires developed by the investigator. Interviews and mail surveys were used in this study. The findings in this study showed that six kinds of information needs arose, ranked as the signs and symptoms of recurrence, the possibility of recurrence, the possibility of metastasis, treatment, diet and physical activities in daily living. Marital status, level of education, and level of monthly income were not related to level of informational need. Younger women rather than older women had a greater need to seek information(r=-.471, p<.01). There was a significantly negative relationship between duration of disease and the score on information needs(r=-.32, p<.05). The findings have implications that the opportunity to ask questions and have accurate information on the recurrence should be provided to women with breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.4455-4457
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• 2013

In the new millennium people are facing serious challenges in health care, especially with increasing non-communicable diseases (NCD). One of the most common NCDs is cancer which is the leading cause of death in developed countries and in developing countries is the second cause of death after heart diseases. Cancer registry can make possible the analysis, comparison and development of national and international cancer strategies and planning. Information technology has a vital role in quality improvement and facility of cancer registries. With the use of IT, in addition to gaining general benefits such as monitoring rates of cancer incidence and identifying planning priorities we can also gain specific advantages such as collecting information for a lifetime, creating tele medical records, possibility of access to information by patient, patient empowerment, and decreasing medical errors. In spite of the powerful role of IT, we confront various challenges such as general problems, like privacy of the patient, and specific problems, including possibility of violating patients rights through misrepresentation, omission of human relationships, and decrease in face to face communication between doctors and patients. By implementing appropriate strategies, such as identifying authentication levels, controlling approaches, coding data, and considering technical and content standards, we can optimize the use of IT. The aim of this paper is to emphasize the need for identifying positive and negative effects of modern IT on cancer registry in general and specific aspects as an approach to cancer care management.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.95-100
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• 2015

Currently, inappropriate information regarding cancer is being disseminated indiscreetly via the media and Internet. Many people are confused due to the mixed presence of facts and misinformation concerning cancer. Owing to the flood of information, especially that concerning gastrointestinal cancer (the most common cancer in Korea), patients with gastrointestinal cancers, their family members, and medical staff, as well as the general public, are faced with a number of problems in understanding, treating, and overcoming this type of cancer. Therefore, investigating the level of recognition for and understanding of gastrointestinal cancers among these populations is very important for the prevention, diagnosis, and management of this disease. This review article investigated the differences in the recognition levels of the general understanding, prevention, quality of life, pain control, and the ethical issues of gastrointestinal cancer treatment among the general public, patients with gastrointestinal cancers, their family members, and medical staff via surveys.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.49-56
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• 2012

Objective: This study was an attempt to identify associations between health behavior, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, healthy diet, and physical activity, and psychosocial factors. Methods: This crosssectional study was conducted among 1,500 participants aged between 30 and 69 years, selected from a population-based database in October 2009 through multiple-stratified random sampling. Information was collected about the participants' smoking and drinking habits, dietary behavior, level of physical activity, stress, coping strategies, impulsiveness, personality, social support, sense of coherence, self-efficacy, health communication, and sociodemographics. Results: Agreeableness, as a personality trait, was negatively associated with smoking and a healthy diet, while extraversion was positively associated with drinking. The tendency to consume a healthy diet decreased in individuals with perceived higher stress, whereas it increased in individuals who had access to greater social support. Self-efficacy was found to be a strong predictor of all health behaviors. Provider-patient communication and physical environment were important factors in promoting positive healthy behavior, such as consumption of a healthy diet and taking regular exercise. Conclusions: Psychosocial factors influence individuals' smoking and drinking habits, dietary intake, and exercise patterns.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.126-134
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• 2020

Objectives: Cancer diagnoses have a tremendous impact on individuals and communities, drawing intense public concern. The objective of the current research was to examine news coverage and content related to cancer-related issues in Korean newspapers. Methods: Primarily using the database system of the Korea Press Foundation, we conducted a content analysis of 2806 articles from 9 Korean daily newspapers during a recent 3-year period from 2015 to 2017. Thematic categories, the types of articles, attitudes and tone, and the number of sources in each article were coded and classified. Results: Many news articles dealt with a diverse range of themes related to cancer, including general healthcare information, the latest research and development, specific medical institutions and personnel, and technology and products, which jointly accounted for 74.8% of all articles. Those thematic categories differed markedly in terms of article type, tone, and the number of cited sources. News articles provided extensive information about healthcare resources, and many articles seemed to contain advertising content. However, the content related to complex social issues such as National Health Insurance did not include enough information for the reader to contextualize the issues properly or present the issues systematically. Conclusions: It can be assumed that the media exert differential influence on individuals through news coverage. Within the present reporting framework, the availability and usefulness of information are likely to depend solely on individuals' capabilities, such as financial and health literacy; this dependency has a negative impact on knowledge gaps and health inequities.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.1865-1871
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• 2015

While health information-seeking behavior as an indicator of health communication of patients including cancer survivors has been researched, few studies have focused on how socioeconomic position and media use combine to influence health-related information seekers. This study examined social characteristics of health information-seeking behavior taking into account an individual's socioeconomic position and their media use in Korea, a developed country. The data for this study came from a survey of 1,010 respondents drawn from a nationally representative sample in the Republic of Korea. We conducted multivariate logistic regression analyses for gender-specific effects. We found that men who reported high household income were one and half times more likely to seek health information than those with low income status. We also found that women who performed Internet searches by computer at home were almost two times more likely to seek health information than those who did not. Similar results were found for men as well. Our analyses revealed that socioeconomic position and media use are associated with health information-seeking behavior by gender. Studies on information seekers may bring us more effective health promotion and relevant intervention for people with chronic conditions including cancer survivors.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2012

High-throughput genomic technologies (HGTs), including next-generation DNA sequencing (NGS), microarray, and serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE), have become effective experimental tools for cancer genomics to identify cancer-associated somatic genomic alterations and genes. The main hurdle in cancer genomics is to identify the real causative mutations or genes out of many candidates from an HGT-based cancer genomic analysis. One useful approach is to refer to known cancer genes and associated information. The list of known cancer genes can be used to determine candidates of cancer driver mutations, while cancer gene-related information, including gene expression, protein-protein interaction, and pathways, can be useful for scoring novel candidates. Some cancer gene or mutation databases exist for this purpose, but few specialized tools exist for an automated analysis of a long gene list from an HGT-based cancer genomic analysis. This report presents a new web-accessible bioinformatic tool, called CaGe, a cancer genome annotation system for the assessment of candidates of cancer genes from HGT-based cancer genomics. The tool provides users with information on cancer-related genes, mutations, pathways, and associated annotations through annotation and browsing functions. With this tool, researchers can classify their candidate genes from cancer genome studies into either previously reported or novel categories of cancer genes and gain insight into underlying carcinogenic mechanisms through a pathway analysis. We show the usefulness of CaGe by assessing its performance in annotating somatic mutations from a published small cell lung cancer study.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6333-6336
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• 2012

The burden of cancer is growing globally and is one of the top leading causes of death. Information on cancer patterns are essential for effective planning of cancer control interventions. There is limited published information available on pattern of cancer for the state of Odisha, India. The present study was an attempt to explore the pattern and trend of cancer in Odisha. To fulfill the objectives retrospective data available from 2001-2011 at Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Center (AHRCC), Cuttack, Odisha, were analyzed. Medical records of cancer patients were reviewed and relevant information on diagnosis, primary site and demographic data were retrieved. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS 16.0 (SPSS Inc.). A total of 74,861 cancer inpatients were registered at AHRCC for the years 2001-2011. The proportion of females outnumbered males with female:male ratio 1.1:1. The number of female cases increased four folds and that of males three fold over the period studied. Malignancies such as oral cancer (16.93%), acute lymphocytic leukemia/non Hodgkins lymphoma (14.09%) and cancer of gastrointestinal tract (21.07%) are leading cancers among males and carcinomas of breast (28.94%), cervix (23.66%) and ovary (16.11%) were leading among females. Findings from this study indicate an overall increase in cancer reporting which could be regarded as proxy measure for overall cancer situation in Odisha. There is scope and need for integrating other government hospitals, existing private health service providers and research institutions across the state for better planning of cancer control program.