A scoping review of research on the health information needs of breast cancer patients

Abstract

Objective To provide a scoping review of studies related to the health information needs of breast cancer patients and a reference for relevant studies in the future. Methods The literature on health information needs of breast cancer patients in databases were searched by computer including PubMed,Web of Science, CINAHL,Embase,Cochrane Library,CNKI,VIP,and Wanfang. The search period was set from the establishment of the databases to July 2,2023. After that,the retrieved literature was screened,summarized,and analyzed by two researchers. Results A total of 15 articles were included. Patients had the information needs about treatment,basic knowledge of the disease,rehabilitation and health care,and psychosocial health,which varied at different stages of disease. Conclusion Future research on health information needs of breast cancer patients should follow the trend of the times,further improve assessment tools,and explore the changing characteristics of information needs of patients at different stages of disease through longitudinal tracking,so as to construct intervention programs to meet patients, information needs.