Content Analysis of Questions Related to Breast Cancer Raised through Internet Counseling in Korea

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze the data regarding questions raised by women with breast cancer through Internet counseling in Korea. Methods: The data were collected from one internet web-site, providing counseling by physicians. A total of 617 questions were analyzed by content analysis method. Results: About 90 percent of the counselees were patients themselves. But most of the general and health-related characteristics of them were not known from the data. As a result of content analysis, 617 questions were grouped into 9 major categories. The most common major category was identified as life after treatment (212 questions, 34.2%), followed by chemotherapy (139 questions, 22.3%) and hormone therapy (115 questions, 18.9%). Questions regarding physical symptoms were the most frequent one in the major categories of life after treatment, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, while questions regarding psychological problems were the least. Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that it is important for health professionals to provide continuous on-line informational support to women with breast cancer, even after all the treatment is over, especially focusing on physical symptoms. In addition, off-line program needs to be reinforced to provide emotional support that is not well delivered by on-line program