부산대학교 도서관

As a result of efforts to improve information disclosure in medicine, an increasing number of patientsare actively seeking information on hyperthermia and/or wish to undergo hyperthermia therapy. To investigate interest among patients, we studied 12 patients who visited the Department of Radiation Oncology and Nuclear Medicine, Toranomon Hospital, Tokyo from April 2000 to December 2001 to seek second opinions on hyperthermia. The subjects consisted of 8 males and 4 females, and the median age was 53 years. Eight patients brought referral letters from their original doctors, and I I brought X-rays taken at their first hospital. The total number of consultations per patient was once or twice in all cases. The time spent with each patient was 0.5 hours to 3 hours per consultation (median: 1.5 hours). As a result, hyperthermia therapy was indicated for 2 patients. As sources of information on hyperthermia, 9 of the 12 patients had searched the internet before visiting Toranomon Hospital. Seven of the 9 searched Yahoo! Japan using the key word “on-netsuryouhou” rather than “hyperthermia”. This figure revealed that “on-netsuryouhou” was more often used, as ak ey word among patients, than “hyperthermia”. Within the scope of this study, it appeared that information on hyperthermia, including internet sources, is limited and/or difficult to access. This suggests the need for an educational campaign on hyperthermia.