Journal of Health Communication International Perspectives
ISSN: 1081-0730 (Print) 1087-0415 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uhcm20
Characterizing Online Narratives About Colonoscopy Experiences: Comparing Colon Cancer “Screeners” Versus “Survivors” Amy McQueen, Lauren D. Arnold & Michael Baltes To cite this article: Amy McQueen, Lauren D. Arnold & Michael Baltes (2015) Characterizing Online Narratives About Colonoscopy Experiences: Comparing Colon Cancer “Screeners” Versus “Survivors”, Journal of Health Communication, 20:8, 958-968, DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2015.1018606 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2015.1018606
Published online: 18 Jun 2015.
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Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=uhcm20 Download by: [Australian National University]
Date: 05 November 2015, At: 18:19
Journal of Health Communication, 20:958–968, 2015 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1081-0730 print/1087-0415 online DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2015.1018606
Characterizing Online Narratives About Colonoscopy Experiences: Comparing Colon Cancer ‘‘Screeners’’ Versus ‘‘Survivors’’ AMY MCQUEEN1, LAUREN D. ARNOLD2, and MICHAEL BALTES2 1
Downloaded by [Australian National University] at 18:19 05 November 2015
2
School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Effective screening can reduce colorectal cancer mortality; however, screening uptake is suboptimal. Patients’ stories about various health topics are widely available online and in behavioral interventions and are valued by patients. Although these narratives may be promising strategies for promoting cancer screening behavior, scant research has compared the influence of different role models. This study involving content analysis of online stories aimed to (a) describe the content of online experiential narratives about colonoscopy; (b) compare narratives from individuals who had a colonoscopy and either had colon cancer (survivors) or did not have colon cancer (screeners); and (c) generate hypotheses for future studies. The authors identified 90 narratives eligible for analysis from 15 websites. More stories were about White patients, men, and routine (vs. diagnostic) colonoscopy. A higher-thanexpected number of narratives reported a family history of colorectal cancer or polyps (20%) and a colorectal cancer diagnosis (47%). Colorectal cancer survivor (vs. screener) stories were longer, mentioned symptoms and diagnostic reasons for getting a colonoscopy more often, and described the colonoscopy procedure or referred to it as easy or painless less often. Future studies should examine the effects of the role model’s personal characteristics and the colonoscopy test result on reader’s perceptions and intentions to have a colorectal cancer screening.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States (American Cancer Society, 2013) that can be reduced by effective screening (Edwards et al., 2010; Winawer et al., 1993) among average-risk adults 50–75 years of age (Levin et al., 2008; Smith et al., 2011; U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, 2008). However, screening uptake is suboptimal (
ISSN: 1081-0730 (Print) 1087-0415 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uhcm20
Characterizing Online Narratives About Colonoscopy Experiences: Comparing Colon Cancer “Screeners” Versus “Survivors” Amy McQueen, Lauren D. Arnold & Michael Baltes To cite this article: Amy McQueen, Lauren D. Arnold & Michael Baltes (2015) Characterizing Online Narratives About Colonoscopy Experiences: Comparing Colon Cancer “Screeners” Versus “Survivors”, Journal of Health Communication, 20:8, 958-968, DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2015.1018606 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2015.1018606
Published online: 18 Jun 2015.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 60
View related articles
View Crossmark data
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=uhcm20 Download by: [Australian National University]
Date: 05 November 2015, At: 18:19
Journal of Health Communication, 20:958–968, 2015 Copyright # Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1081-0730 print/1087-0415 online DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2015.1018606
Characterizing Online Narratives About Colonoscopy Experiences: Comparing Colon Cancer ‘‘Screeners’’ Versus ‘‘Survivors’’ AMY MCQUEEN1, LAUREN D. ARNOLD2, and MICHAEL BALTES2 1
Downloaded by [Australian National University] at 18:19 05 November 2015
2
School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, USA College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Effective screening can reduce colorectal cancer mortality; however, screening uptake is suboptimal. Patients’ stories about various health topics are widely available online and in behavioral interventions and are valued by patients. Although these narratives may be promising strategies for promoting cancer screening behavior, scant research has compared the influence of different role models. This study involving content analysis of online stories aimed to (a) describe the content of online experiential narratives about colonoscopy; (b) compare narratives from individuals who had a colonoscopy and either had colon cancer (survivors) or did not have colon cancer (screeners); and (c) generate hypotheses for future studies. The authors identified 90 narratives eligible for analysis from 15 websites. More stories were about White patients, men, and routine (vs. diagnostic) colonoscopy. A higher-thanexpected number of narratives reported a family history of colorectal cancer or polyps (20%) and a colorectal cancer diagnosis (47%). Colorectal cancer survivor (vs. screener) stories were longer, mentioned symptoms and diagnostic reasons for getting a colonoscopy more often, and described the colonoscopy procedure or referred to it as easy or painless less often. Future studies should examine the effects of the role model’s personal characteristics and the colonoscopy test result on reader’s perceptions and intentions to have a colorectal cancer screening.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States (American Cancer Society, 2013) that can be reduced by effective screening (Edwards et al., 2010; Winawer et al., 1993) among average-risk adults 50–75 years of age (Levin et al., 2008; Smith et al., 2011; U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, 2008). However, screening uptake is suboptimal (
