PATIENT INFORMATION CULTURE AS A FACTOR IN THE TIMELINESS OF CANCER CARE

Information and its quality have always been important conditions for making the right decisions. The issues of methodical assessment of patient awareness, quality of organization and medical information in the public and private health sector remain unresolved. At the same time, there are very few scientific papers devoted to the research of the information culture of cancer patients. The aim of the study is to develop proposals to improve it on the basis of an assessment of the current state of the information culture of cancer patients. Research base: GBUS IWOOD. Time of the study 2020. Methods: sociological, analytical, documentary. The study program included the use of a survey method on a specially developed questionnaire "A map of social and hygienic research of patient information culture", which included 15 questions of a closed type. The unit of observation is a patient of cancer profile. The sample population, formed by random selection, was 400 patients. Based on the analysis of the medical records, patients were divided into groups, depending on the timeliness of seeking medical care for cancer. The t-Student criterion was used to determine the validity of the difference in the comparison groups. Differences between the groups were considered reliable at p<0.05. According to the results of the study, 5 components of the patient information culture have been identified, its important role in ensuring the timeliness of cancer care has been established, the levels and nature of the reduction in assessments of its current condition have been determined, and measures to improve the information culture of cancer patients have been proposed, which can be demanded by practical doctors, management of medical institutions, health authorities in shaping the areas of hygiene education and education of the population. As a result of the implementation of the proposals, positive dynamics of assessments on all components of patient information culture have been achieved.