Information Needs of Recently Diagnosed Cancer Patients in Brazil

Objective: The communication and disclosure of medical information to cancer patients has been an important issue in oncology, reflecting changes in the physicians' approach when dealing with the patients' ethical right to receive information. The aim of this study was to assess the genera...

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Published in:	International journal of psychiatry in medicine Vol. 34; no. 4; pp. 319 - 329
Main Authors:	Pinto, Renata Novaes, Chaves, Ana Cristina, Lourenço, Maria Theresa, de Jesus Mari, Jair
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-01-2004 Baywood Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects:	Adult Aged Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use Attitude to Health Biological and medical sciences Cancer Communication Female Health Services Needs and Demand Humans Information Male Medical sciences Middle Aged Neoplasms - diagnosis Neoplasms - drug therapy Neoplasms - epidemiology Patient Education as Topic Patient Rights - ethics Patients Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry Psychopathology. Psychiatry Questionnaires Socioeconomic Factors Surveys and Questionnaires Therapeutical relation and framework Treatments Tropical medicine Truth Disclosure South America Brazil America truth-disclosure cancer communication psycho-oncology Social environment Prognosis Prevalence Disease Mental health Individual preference Information communication Biomedical information Therapeutic information Diagnosis Age Public health Human Desire Attitude Malignant tumor Symptomatology Treatment Physician patient relation Sociodemographic factor Mental disorder Minor Comparative study Somatic disease
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Summary:	Objective: The communication and disclosure of medical information to cancer patients has been an important issue in oncology, reflecting changes in the physicians' approach when dealing with the patients' ethical right to receive information. The aim of this study was to assess the general and specific information desired by cancer patients regarding their health conditions and to evaluate minor psychiatric symptoms. Method: Two-hundred and ninety-eight patients were examined at an oncological cancer center in São Paulo, Brazil, using a questionnaire designed to investigate patients' preferences about cancer information and evaluate minor psychiatric symptoms. Result: Ninety-five percent of the patients were interested in obtaining information on their health condition, with regard to whether they had cancer (95%), the chances of recovery (89%), and the side effects during treatment (94%). Younger patients tended to show more interest in obtaining information than the elderly. The Self-Reporting Questionnaire classified 25.8% of the sample as a probable psychiatric case, but no correlation was found between Self-Reporting Questionnaire scores and patients' desires for medical information. Conclusion: The majority of patients wished to be informed about their illness condition, and no correlation was found between psychiatric morbidity and desire for information.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0091-2174 1541-3527
DOI:	10.2190/KE6T-ECM1-03EE-0WGQ