Washington: Those searching online for health information are more informed and more positive about their chances in the fight against cancer - according to a study.
Study contributors Chul-joo Lee, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Jeff Niederdeppe, Cornell University; and Derek Freres, University of Pennsylvania, surveyed 2,489 people from the ages of 40 to 70 with respect to their media usage.
Earlier analysis suggested that frequent television viewing increases fatalism associated with disease of cancer. Recent findings indicate that in case of the Internet they do not.
People who are often looking for online information on health, including the prevention and diagnosis of cancer, are less likely to treat this disease as something inevitable or dependent on fate, the researchers said.
"Many Americans believe that cancer is a fate. Reduce the sense of fatalism associated with cancer, especially among people with low socio-economic status, is probably one of the most important tasks in the field of public health "- says study author Chul-joo Lee. (PAP)
The study has been published in the Journal of Communication.
ANI
