["Dr. Google"-information-seeking behavior and disease-specific anxiety among men with localized prostate cancer]

After the diagnosis of localized prostate cancer (LPCa), many men seek additional information about their disease. However, it is not yet proven how different sources of information influence uncertainty and disease-specific anxiety. The aim of this study is to investigate to what extent different types of information sources, the number of used sources and the perceived level of information are predictive of disease-specific anxiety.

Men with LPCa (N = 292; n = 150 radical prostatectomy, n = 142 active surveillance) completed questionnaires assessing sociodemographic variables, number and type of sources of information used, perceived level of information, and disease-specific anxiety. The association of information-seeking behavior with anxiety was tested using moderated sequential multiple regression.

Men were 70 ± 7.2 years old and the survey was taken 47.9 ± 15.4 months after decision for therapy. The multiple regression analysis showed that, after controlling for potential covariates, internet usage (β = 3.28; p > 0.001), number of sources (β = 1.09; p > 0.01) and a lower level of informedness (β = 4.49; p > 0.001) independently predicted variability of anxiety. In addition, the 3‑way interaction (β = 2.03; p > 0.05) accounted for a significant proportion of variance. Overall, the model explained 30% of the criterion variance.

Our results show that many men with LPCa already use the internet as a source of information and that this online search is associated with increased disease-specific anxiety. It may be possible to reduce disease-specific anxiety and uncertainty if physicians advise their patients on the selection of reliable online sources.