Short summary

In the danish health system, the use of digital solutions for patient information is increasing hastily. These platforms enable us to provide more information in a unified fashion. Though our patients' digital information burden is increasing, we do not know if our patients are ready for this change.

This study aims to investigate the health technology readiness amongst women with a suspected breast cancer diagnosis.

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Rationale

Health information, patient education, and self-management (health information and advice) tools are increasingly being made available to adults with different health conditions, either through internet-based health and mobile health digital information technologies.

At the Department of Plastic Surgery, OUH, we have, for several years, transitioned to digital solutions when delivering information to our papers, with a focus on patients with breast cancer. We now have websites, apps, and videos available for our patients to use when seeking information about their disease and their treatment options.

From a care-givers perspective, the increased amount of information available is positive, but can our patients cope with so much information being available digitally instead of information face-to-face or by paper? Despite the rapid change from analog informatics to digital solutions, we do not know a lot about our patients' readiness for such a change. There is an increasing amount of studies on the subject, but no recent study on readiness for digital solutions among our patient group, patients with suspected breast cancer. That is what we are hoping to achieve with this study.

The project aims to use a relatively new tool called "READHY" to assess our patient group's health technology readiness. The tool consists of 70 questions, and the results will enable us to group our patients according to their health technology readiness.

This study is a cross-sectional study where participants fill out a single questionnaire at first contact with our out-patient clinic. There will not be any follow-up.

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Description of the cohort

All women referred to the Center of Breast Surgery at Odense University Hospital on suspicion of breast cancer.

Eligibility criteria:

All patients referred to our department with suspected breast cancer.

Ability to understand the aim of the study and to give consent.

Being able to understand Danish at the level required to answer the questionnaires.

Data and biological material

Questionnaire - READHY

Collaborating researchers and departments

Research Unit of Plastic Surgery, Odense University Hospital

• Jørn Bo Thomsen, Consultant