Counseling for Breast Disease Using the Internet

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Rapid progress in the development of communication devices has enabled us to use large amounts of various kinds of medical information, regardless of time or place. Today, in Korea there are many homepages on the web which provide medical information, hospital information, and counseling on medical fields in Korea, but more detailed recent medical informations, better quality control, and a greater variety of communication skills are needed. Methods and RESULTS: We analysed the data on the web from November 1998 to October 1999 about breast cancer clinic. The frequent questions were about breast mass (44%), breast pain (29%), and counseling on breast cancer (25%). The most frequent users were in their 3rd decade (55%), 4th decade (8%), and unknown age cases (23%). The average number of visitors on web was 454 per month. CONCLUSION: In near future, we believe that use of the web as an information source will grow rapidly and the most of the people in Korea will use internet. For that purpose, we should realize that virtual space is a reality, and we should use it as an effective technique for educating the public.