Background: The rapid growth of e-health could have the unintended effect of deepening health disparities between population sub-groups. Most concerns to date have focused on population differences in access to technology, but differences may also exist in the appropriateness of online health content for diverse populations.

Objective: This paper reports findings from the first descriptive study of online cancer survivor stories by race and ethnicity of the survivor. Methods: Using the five highest rated Internet search engines and a set of search terms a layperson would use to find cancer survivor stories online, we identified 3738 distinct sites. Of these, 106 met study criteria and contained 7995 total stories, including 1708 with an accompanying photo or video image of the survivor. Characteristics of both Web sites and survivor stories were coded.

Results: All racial minority groups combined accounted for 9.7% of online cancer survivor stories, despite making up over 30% of the U.S. population. Also notably underrepresented were stories from those of Hispanic ethnicity (4%), men (36%), survivors of colon cancer (3%), and older adults.

Conclusions: Because minority cancer survivors are underrepresented in survivor stories available online, it is unlikely that this e-health resource in its current form will help eliminate the disproportionate burden of cancer experienced by these groups.

Second AACR International Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities— Feb 3–6, 2009; Carefree, AZ

American Association for Cancer Research
2009