Purpose

During recent years, web technologies and mass media have become prevalent in the context of medicine and health. Two examples of important web technologies used in health are news media and patient forums. Both have a significant role in shaping patients' perspective and behaviour in relation to health and illness, as well as the way that they might choose or change their treatment. In this paper, the authors investigated the application of web technologies using the data analysis approach. The authors did this analysis from the point of view of topics being discussed and disseminated via patients and journalists in breast and lung cancer. The study also investigated the (dis)alignment amongst these two groups and scientists in terms of topics.

Design/methodology/approach

Three data sets comprised documents published between 2014 and 2018 obtained from ProQuest and Web of Science Medline databases, alongside data from three major patient forums on breast and lung cancer. The analysis and visualisation in this paper have been done using the udpipe, igraph R packages and VOSviewer.

Findings

The study’s findings showed that in general scientists focussed more on prognosis and treatment of cancer, whereas patients and journalists focussed more on detection, prevention and role of social and emotional support. The only exception was for news coverage of lung cancer where the largest cluster was related to treatment, research in cancer treatment and therapies. However, when comparing coverage by scientists and journalists in terms of treatment, the focus of news articles in both cancer types was mainly on chemotherapy and complimentary therapies. Finally, topics such as lifestyle or pain management were only discussed by breast cancer patients.

Originality/value

The results obtained from this study may provide valuable insights into topics of interest for each group of scientists, journalist and patients as well as (dis)alignment among them in terms of topics. These findings are important as scientific research is heavily dependent on communication, and research does not exist in a bubble. Scientists and journalists can gain insights from patients' experiences and needs, which in turn may help them to have a more holistic and realistic view.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-06-2020-0228

中文翻译：

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科学文献、新闻媒体和患者论坛在主题上是否一致？：一项关于乳腺癌和肺癌的研究

目的

近年来，网络技术和大众媒体在医学和健康领域变得流行起来。用于健康的重要网络技术的两个例子是新闻媒体和患者论坛。两者都在塑造患者关于健康和疾病的观点和行为以及他们可能选择或改变治疗的方式方面发挥着重要作用。在本文中，作者使用数据分析方法研究了网络技术的应用。作者从乳腺癌和肺癌患者和记者正在讨论和传播的话题的角度进行了这一分析。该研究还调查了这两个群体和科学家之间在主题方面的（不一致）。

设计/方法/方法

三个数据集包括 2014 年至 2018 年间从 ProQuest 和 Web of Science Medline 数据库获得的文件，以及来自三个主要乳腺癌和肺癌患者论坛的数据。本文中的分析和可视化是使用 udpipe、igraph R 包和 VOSviewer 完成的。

发现

研究结果表明，总的来说，科学家更关注癌症的预后和治疗，而患者和记者更关注检测、预防以及社会和情感支持的作用。唯一的例外是肺癌的新闻报道，其中最大的集群与治疗、癌症治疗研究和疗法有关。然而，在比较科学家和记者在治疗方面的报道时，两种癌症类型的新闻文章的重点主要是化疗和补充疗法。最后，生活方式或疼痛管理等话题仅由乳腺癌患者讨论。

原创性/价值

从这项研究中获得的结果可能会为每个科学家、记者和患者群体感兴趣的主题以及他们之间在主题方面的（不一致）提供有价值的见解。这些发现很重要，因为科学研究在很大程度上依赖于交流，而研究并不存在于泡沫中。科学家和记者可以从患者的经历和需求中获得洞察力，这反过来又可以帮助他们有一个更全面和更现实的观点。

同行评审

本文的同行评审历史可从以下网址获得：https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-06-2020-0228