Patients' preferences for adjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage breast cancer: is treatment worthwhile?
When making decisions about adjuvant chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer, costs and benefits of treatment should be carefully weighed. In this process, patients' preferences are of major importance. The objectives of the present study were: (1) to determine the minimum benefits that patients need to find chemotherapy acceptable, and (2) to explore potential preference determinants, namely: positive experience of the treatment, reconciliation with the treatment decision, and demographic variables. Preferences were elicited from patients scheduled for adjuvant chemotherapy (chemotherapy group: n = 38) before (T(1)), during (T(2)), and 1 month after chemotherapy (T(3)), and were compared to responses from patients not scheduled for chemotherapy (no-chemotherapy group: n = 38). The patients were asked, for a hypothetical situation, to indicate the minimum benefit (in terms of improved 5-year disease-free survival) to find adjuvant chemotherapy acceptable. In the chemotherapy group, the median benefit was 1% at all 3 measurement points. In the no-chemotherapy group the attitude towards chemotherapy became more negative over time, although not statistically significantly so (T(1): 12%, T(2): 15%, T(3): 15%; P = 0.10). At all measurement points, the patients in the chemotherapy group indicated that they would accept chemotherapy for significantly (P< 0.01) less benefit than the patients in the no-chemotherapy group. Of the demographic variables, age was related to preferences, but only at T(2)and only in the no-chemotherapy group. The more positive attitude towards chemotherapy and the stability of preferences in the chemotherapy group indicated that reconciliation with the treatment decision was a more important determinant of patients' preferences than positive experience of the treatment.
Jansen
S J
SJ
Department of Medical Decision Making, K6-R Leiden University Medical Center, PO Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
Kievit
J
J
Nooij
M A
MA
de Haes
J C
JC
Overpelt
I M
IM
van Slooten
H
H
Maartense
E
E
Stiggelbout
A M
AM
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D003625:Data Collection; D003657:Decision Making; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations