Cancer information seeking behaviors and information needs among Korean Americans

Linguistically and culturally isolated Korean Americans have less access to health service and cancer screening tests than all U.S population. Lack of adequate cancer information is one of the barriers to undergoing cancer screening tests. It is necessary to understand their current cancer information-seeking behaviors and information needs if we are to more effectively provide adequate cancer information. The purpose of the study was to identify cancer information seeking behaviors and information needs among Korean Americans. Data were collected from one of the biggest websites for the Korean community in the USA. A total of 273 free-texts from January to June 2013 were reviewed and analyzed for this study. The extracted terms were categorized based on the coding system. The primary reason for asking questions was inquiry followed by sharing experiences. The main topics of the postings were categorized as medical or non-medical. In relation to types of cancer, breast cancer was the greatest concern. The findings from this study can help in establishing more effective strategies to provide better cancer information among Korean Americans by assessing their current cancer information seeking trends and information needs.