Cancer information seeking in the digital age: effects of Angelina Jolie's prophylactic mastectomy announcement

Abstract

Objective: . This study used digital surveillance to examine the impact of Angelina Jolie's prophylactic mastectomy announcement on cancer information seeking.

Methods: . We analyzed 4 categories of breast cancer-related Internet search queries from 2010 to 2013 in the United States.

Results: . Compared with the preceding 6 weeks, general information queries were 112% (95% confidence interval [CI], 79-146) higher the day of the announcement and remained 35% (95% CI, 22-49) higher over the week after the editorial. Risk assessment queries were 165% (95% CI, 110-222) higher the day of the announcement and 52% (95% CI, 31-75) higher across the week. Genetics and treatment queries showed little volume before the announcement but increased 2154% (95% CI, 1550-7076) and 9900% (95% CI, 3196-1,064,000) the day of, respectively, and remained higher across the week (812% [95% CI, 402-3913] and 2625% [95% CI, 551-317,000]). All query categories returned to normal volumes by the beginning of the second week.

Conclusion: . Jolie's unique announcement spurred significant information seeking about breast cancer genetic testing and treatment procedures, although the surge in queries returned to preannouncement levels after 1 week. Future research should apply digital methods to advance our understanding of cancer information seeking in the digital age.

Keywords: breast cancer; cancer communication; cancer information seeking; digital surveillance; genetic testing; prophylactic mastectomy.