1463 CONSUMERISM AND ITS IMPACT ON ROBOTIC-ASSISTED RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY

Abstract

You have accessJournal of UrologyProstate Cancer: Localized1 Apr 20111463 CONSUMERISM AND ITS IMPACT ON ROBOTIC-ASSISTED RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY Sultan Alkhateeb and Nathan Lawrentschuk Sultan AlkhateebSultan Alkhateeb Riyadh, Saudi Arabia More articles by this author and Nathan LawrentschukNathan Lawrentschuk Melbourne, Australia More articles by this author View All Author Informationhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.juro.2011.02.1398AboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints ShareFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Despite never being explored, many experts believe media coverage, marketing and/or direct-to-consumer advertising, particularly internet-based, is fundamental to the widespread adoption of robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). Our primary objective is to delineate the role of media coverage and marketing of RARP on the Internet; our secondary goal focused on website quality presenting prostatectomy. METHODS Website content was evaluated for direct-to-consumer advertising after retrieval of the first 50 websites with Google and Yahoo for each of the terms: “robotic prostatectomy”, “laparoscopic prostatectomy” (LP) and “open prostatectomy (OP)”. Website quality assessment was performed using WHO HONcode principles. A linear regression analysis was performed for the annual number of Internet news hits over the last decade for each procedure. RESULTS Of retrieved sites, the proportion containing direct-to-consumer advertising for RALP vs LP vs OP in Google were 64% vs 14% vs 0%, respectively (p< 0.001) and in Yahoo 80% vs 16% vs 0%, respectively (p<0.001). A minority of websites were HONcode accredited with no difference between techniques (p=0.88). In a linear regression analysis, the r2 values for news hits for each year over the last ten years were 0.89, 0.74, and 0.76, for RALP, LP and OP, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Our findings support the assertion that media and marketing have contributed to the uptake of RARP being significantly more widespread when compared to other techniques. The quality of information regarding any radical prostatectomy technique is uniformly poor. Urologists need to factor such findings into informed consent. © 2011 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 185Issue 4SApril 2011Page: e586 Advertisement Copyright & Permissions© 2011 by American Urological Association Education and Research, Inc.Metrics Author Information Sultan Alkhateeb Riyadh, Saudi Arabia More articles by this author Nathan Lawrentschuk Melbourne, Australia More articles by this author Expand All Advertisement Advertisement PDF downloadLoading ...