Abstract A19: Awareness and use of national cancer resources among those with a history of cancer

Background: Technological advances combined with the profusion of available cancer information have added to the difficulty of finding accurate and accessible information. Although national cancer information resources exist, previous research shows that there is a lack of awareness of these resources. In particular, little is known about awareness and use of national cancer resources among the population who need them most, people who have been diagnosed with cancer (personal history) or people who have had a family member who has been diagnosed with cancer (family history).

Purpose: Our analysis examined sociodemographic and information seeking predictors of use of national cancer information resources among people with a personal and/or family history of cancer.

Methods: Data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 2005) were analyzed to examine associates of awareness of the following cancer information resources: the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service (CIS) and the Cancer Information Service Hotline 1-800 4CANCER (CIS hotline).

SAS-callable SUDAAN was used to calculate population estimates and appropriate standard errors to accommodate the complex survey design. All data were weighted to provide representative estimates to the adult U.S. population. Chi-Square and Pearson Correlation were conducted to examine bivariate associations. Two multivariate logistic regression models were conducted to predict use of the two national cancer resources. Variables significantly associated (at p<.05) with outcome variables in bivariate level were included in the models. Response categories for some variables were collapsed to avoid over-parameterizing the models.

Results: These preliminary results showed that people with a personal and/or family history of cancer with less than a high school diploma were significantly less likely to have heard of CIS (ORedu<HS=0.11). Those who had searched the internet for themselves were significantly more likely to have heard of the CIS hotline (OR=2.5). Finally for those that did not use CIS or CIS hotline, the reasons given for not contacting them included: did not know the number, did not know about it when info was needed, and had other sources of information.

Conclusion: These results indicate that under served populations who might benefit from knowledge and use of national cancer resources are perhaps the least likely to be aware of and to use these resources. This finding has a potentially devastating impact on disparities and can be used to guide promotion of these resources to underserved populations. This analysis will also include geographic predictors and data from provider surveys that discuss awareness of and referral of patients to national cancer resources.