Patient preferences in an online breast reconstruction resource

Over 60 million people in the United States alone use online health sites and 90% admit that the medical information gathered is influential in their decision making process. Almost half of those that went online for their own health say that the material influenced their decisions about treatments or care. Unfortunately this freely shared information remains largely unfiltered and many medical websites may be false or misleading. As breast cancer patients are amongst the highest personal users of the internet, plastic surgeons involved in their treatment have a duty to guide them towards both factual and reliable information. We surveyed 100 women in three large international breast reconstruction centres to identify their online pref- erences and determine which factors influenced their decision to undergo treatment.