Patterns of Online Health Information Behavior among Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients in a Southern Chinese City: A Grounded Theory Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Breast cancer has become the most common cancer worldwide, and newly diagnosed breast cancer patients are in particular need of health information. The results of this study will help clinical providers understand the complete process related to online health information behavior among newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and guide them in developing targeted information behavior intervention. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to identify online health information behavior patterns in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to identify the specific characteristics of patients' online health information behaviors using a grounded theory approach, with the goal of ultimately identifying a behavioral pattern that depicts the trajectories of change among these behaviors. METHODS Thirty-two patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer who underwent breast surgery at The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University were interviewed semistructurally per procedural grounded theory from August 2021 to May 2022. The data were processed through three-level coding, continuous comparison, and dimensional analysis until theoretical saturation was achieved. This manuscript adheres to the COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research (COREQ) guidelines. RESULTS An online health information behavior pattern was identified for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. The complete online health information behaviors (core categories) of patients during the period from breast cancer diagnosis to treatment included the following aspects: information acquisition behavior, including active information search, avoidance of information, and encounter information; information evaluation behaviors, including information evaluation and no evaluation; information processing behaviors, including information rejection, information storage, and information utilization; and information processing outcomes, including information termination and continuous searching for information. CONCLUSIONS This study identified a pattern of online health information behavior for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. The findings will help clinical health care professionals understand the complete process related to online health information behavior among newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, discover entry points for interventions for online health information behavior , and develop targeted information behavioral interventions to help patients improve their e-health literacy, enhance their decision-making ability and information utilization effectiveness, and promote their recovery.