Extrait

Background and study aims The internet has seen an explosion of websites featuring people’s accounts of their experiences of health and illness, for example through blogs, patients forums, online ratings sites and voluntary organisation websites. These are popular, but may cause harm as well as benefits. The aim of this study is to find out whether or not people find health information websites useful and if so, how best to provide health information online. Information from health websites may help people make better healthcare choices, alert them to health issues and improve their understanding. By conducting this study we hope to learn more about how people use health information websites, whether information is more useful if it is presented in a particular way, and if people have a preference as to how health information is provided online. Who can participate? For this study we want to recruit people who are in one of three categories: 1. People with asthma 2. People who smoke but are thinking of quitting 3. People who are carers of someone who has multiple sclerosis. If one of these categories applies to you then you may be eligible to take part. If you are over 18, have an email address, access to an internet connection and are willing to answer some questions online, we would like to hear from you. What does the study involve? Participants are asked to look at a health information website. Before viewing the website we ask them to complete some questionnaires about their health and their attitude to health information on the internet. These questions should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. Once they have answered these questions they are able to create a username and a password and are given access to a health information website. They have two weeks to access the website during which time we would like them to visit the website as many times as they wish and look at whatever information is of particular interest. They can select ‘Comment on page’ to tell us what they think about the website or leave any comments about the study; they can also rate individual web pages. After two weeks we ask them to answer some further questions about their health and also their views on the website they looked at. These questions should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. When they are using the health information website we will monitor which particular pages they view. We will also look at whether they use the search facility to find information and what search words they enter. We also invite some (but not all) participants for an interview. This interview is conducted in person by someone visiting their home, or another suitable location. The interview is entirely voluntary. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? We cannot guarantee that participants will personally benefit from this study but you will be contributing to important research. We do not foresee any major risks to taking part in this study but if any of the information you come across on the website causes you concern about your health (or the health of someone you care for) please contact your GP or call NHS Direct.The information you provide via the online questionnaires and website visits will be analysed anonymously. Where is the study run from? University of Oxford (UK). When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? June 2013 to May 2014. Who is funding the study? National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK). Who is the main contact? Prof. John Powell [email protected]

Critère d'inclusion

• Smoking cessation, management of chronic asthma, caring for a person with multiple sclerosis

Liens

• ictrp
• isrctn