Bottom Line:
Details of ongoing research into men with prostate cancer, definitions of some of the terms and an invitation to participate.
Publication details:
Details are given about the following research. Some studies are recruiting volunteers:
- Royal Marsden study into family histories of prostate cancer
- BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene
- photodynamic therapy for early prostate cancer
- High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Focal Ablation in Prostate Cancer
- Radiotherapy and Androgen Deprivation In Combination After Local Surgery
- high pressure oxygen (hyperbaric oxygen) treatment for people who have long term side effects following radiotherapy treatment
- HIFU lesion control in men with non-metastatic progressive prostate cancer
We assessed this page using an appraisal instrument developed by Minervation specifically for this project. This approach is still in development, so you should regard the assessments as a general guide. Click here to find out more, or to let us know how you think the approach could be improved.
Reliability comments:
- This page describes several studies that are recruiting patients.
- The content has been checked.
- It is clear who has developed this website.
- More details on how content is produced would be welcome. There is no detailed statement of this.
- The search engine delivers pages of duplicate content in different formats.
Usability comments:
- Users must scroll down the page to view the information about the various studies.
- Each study might merit its own page to help users focus on what's relevant to them.
- The site is quite busy with many pages having too many options for the user to click on.
- The menu system is not complex enough to fit the information.
- For some common queries, our testers found that the information architecture was very confusing.
Scoring
Reliability
| Item |
Score |
| Is it clear who has developed the web site and what their objectives are? |
3 |
| The charity's logo appears on the homepage and there is a detailed About Us section. |
| Does the site report a robust quality control procedure? |
2 |
| The site policy lacks detail on how content is researched and produced. |
| Is the page content checked by an expert? |
2 |
|
|
| Is the page updated regularly? |
1 |
|
|
| Does the page cite relevant sources where appropriate? |
3 |
| It would not really be relevant to cite references here |
Usability
| Item |
Score |
| Is the site accessible without a login? |
3 |
| No registration required. |
| Does the site conform to web Accessibility standards? |
2 |
| Lida score 93%. However, metadata is not used. |
| Is the site design clear and transparent? |
2 |
| The site is quite busy with many pages having many options for the user to choose from. There are also too many onward links to competing pages and competing design schemas. |
| Is the site design consistent from one page to another? |
3 |
| The forum uses a different design scheme rom the main site. |
| Can users find what they need on the site? |
1 |
| In testing the site, we found some information hard to find. This could be improved with a more detailed left-hand menu. |
| Is the format of information clear and appropriate for the audience? |
2 |
| Good explanation of types of clinical trial. Separate pages might be better for each of the trials described. |
| Weighted total (Usability + (Reliability x 2)): |
35 |
We score each question out of three where:
| 0 |
= Never or Can't tell |
| 1 |
= Sometimes or partly |
| 2 |
= Mostly |
| 3 |
= Always |
|
Participate in external research
