HINTS
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Health Information National Trends Survey
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http://hints.cancer.gov
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Year
begun: 2003
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Periodicity:
2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 (Puerto Rico only), 2011, 2012, 2013
(proposed), 2014 (proposed)
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Design: cross-sectional
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Target population:
non-institutionalized adults in the US
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Sample type: random
selection, representative of non-institutionalized adults in US.
Sampling via either RDD (random digit dial) or ABS (address-based
sampling), depending on year fielded (see “Administration
mode,” below.)
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Sample size: between 3,500
– 7,500, depending on year fielded.
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Administration mode: varied
by year
2003:
Telephone (RDD)
2005:
Telephone and web (RDD)
2007: Telephone and mail
(RDD and ABS)
2009:
Telephone (RDD)
2011:
Mail (ABS)
2012:
Mail (ABS)
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Impetus for survey: To
collect nationally-representative data on the American public’s
need for, access to and use of cancer-related information and to
monitor changes in the rapidly evolving health communication and
media environment.
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Survey goals and
objectives: The HINTS program aims to provide surveillance for the
fields of cancer communication, public health, and clinical
practice and to make available public-use datasets to enable
research and guide the development of cancer prevention and
control policies, programs, and practices at national, state, and
local levels. HINTS provides NCI with a comprehensive assessment
of the American public’s current access to, and use of,
information about cancer across the cancer control continuum from
cancer prevention, early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and
survivorship. The content of the survey focuses on understanding
the degree to which members of the general population understand
vital cancer prevention messages. More importantly, this NCI
survey couples knowledge-related questions with inquiries into the
media and communication channels through which health information
is being obtained, and assesses how cancer prevention behaviors
are associated with media exposure, patient-provider
communication, and other important health communication
constructs.
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Prevalence estimates to be
generated: No tobacco use prevalence estimates are generated with
HINTS.
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Key relationships to be
studied: Research questions to be answered by HINTS include:
Considering
the full range of communication channels, what are the major
sources of cancer information for the American public?
Have
there been population shifts over time in use of major sources of
cancer information for the American public?
To
what extent is access or lack of access to different sources of
health information associated with cancer knowledge or behaviors?
Have
there been population shifts over time in access to different
sources of health information and are these shifts related to
changes in cancer knowledge or behavior?
What
segments of the U.S. population depend on information technology
(i.e., the Internet) to meet at least some of their cancer
information needs?
Have
there been population shifts over time in the extent to which
segments of the U.S. population depend on information technology
to meet at least some of their cancer information needs?
How
trustworthy are the sources of health information perceived to be
and how satisfied are respondents with health information access
and content?
Have
perceptions of trust in and satisfaction with various sources of
health information changed over time?
What
is the level of knowledge about cancer incidence, etiology,
prevention, detection, and treatability and what are the
psychological and structural determinants of this knowledge?
Have
levels of knowledge about cancer incidence, etiology, prevention,
detection, and treatability changed over time in the population
and are such changes associated with psychological and structural
determinants of this knowledge?
How
are cancer prevention behaviors related to sources of information
and their use?
Have
there been population shifts in cancer prevention behaviors, and
do such shifts correspond to changes in use of information
sources?
How
do people want to get information about cancer-related issues?
Have there been
population shifts over time in preferences in the ways in which
people want to get information about cancer?
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Types of measures: HINTS
has a core set of measures focusing on its main content area
(health communication) in addition to a core set of measures to
provide surveillance on cancer-related behaviors (such as cancer
screening). These core questions appear in each iteration of
HINTS and make up approximately 50% of the instrument. The other
50% of the instrument varies in order to capture timely issues in
cancer control and shifts in the evolving media environment.
Below is a list of the types of constructs that have been included
in past iterations of HINTS:
Attention to health
information
Avoidance
of screening
Behavior
change
Bodily
Pain
Breast
cancer
Cancer
perceptions
Cancer
related knowledge
Cancer
Risk Perceptions
Cancer
Screening Knowledge
Cancer
survivorship
Caregiver
Preparedness
Cervical
Cancer
Chemical
Exposures
Clinical
Trials
Colorectal
cancer
Comorbidity
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Consideration of future
consequences
Depression
Dietary
Assessment
Environment
and Cancer
Environmental
Health Knowledge
Exposure
to support Resources
Family
History
Genomics
Health
Behavior
Health
Care
Health
information seeking
Health
Information Technology
Health
literacy
Health
Self-Efficacy
Health
status
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Information Seeking
Insurance
status
Lung
cancer
Media
exposure
Mental
Models of Cancer
Numeracy
(Health)
Nutrition
Patient-provider
communication
Physical
Activity
Prostate
Cancer
Skin
cancer
Social
Support
Sun
Safety
Tobacco
Use
Use
of Technology
Weight/Weight
Loss
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Number
of tobacco questions included in HINTS
Year
of Administration
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Total
number of items
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Number
of tobacco items
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Percent
of items about tobacco
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2003
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223
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16
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7.2%
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2005
|
195
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28
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14.4%
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2007
|
185
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19
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10.3%
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2009
(PR)
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185
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19
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10.3%
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2011
(cycle 1)
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205
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3
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1.5%
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2012
(cycle 2)
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203
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11
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5.4%
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2013
(proposed cycle 3)
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209
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16
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7.7%
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