The attitudes of cancer patients and their families toward the disclosure of terminal illness.
OBJECTIVE
To ascertain the attitude of cancer patients and their families toward disclosure of terminal illness to the patient.


METHODS
We constructed a questionnaire that included demographic and clinical information and delivered it to 758 consecutive individuals (433 cancer patients and 325 families that have a relative with cancer) at seven university hospitals and one national cancer center in Korea.


RESULTS
380 cancer patients and one member from each of 281 families that have a relative with cancer completed the questionnaire. Cancer patients were more likely than family members to believe that patients should be informed of the terminal illness (96.1% v 76.9%; P <.001). Fifty percent of the family members and 78.3% of the patients thought that the doctor in charge should be the one who informs the patient. Additionally, 71.7% of the patients and 43.6% of the family members thought that patients should be informed immediately after the diagnosis. Stepwise multiple logistic regression indicated that the patient group was more likely than the family group to want the patient to be informed of the terminal illness (odds ratio [OR], 9.76; 95% CI, 4.31 to 22.14), by the doctor (OR, 4.00; 95% CI, 2.61 to 6.11), and immediately after the diagnosis (OR, 3.64; 95% CI, 2.45 to 5.41).


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings indicated that most cancer patients want to be informed if their illness is terminal, and physicians should realize that the patient and the family unit may differ in their attitude toward such a disclosure. Our results also reflect the importance of how information is given to the patient.
Yun
Young Ho
YH
Research Institute and Hospital, National Cancer Center 809, Madu-dong, Ilsan-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do 411-769, Korea. lawyun@ncc.re.kr.
Lee
Chang Geol
CG
Kim
Si-young
SY
Lee
Sang-wook
SW
Heo
Dae Seog
DS
Kim
Jun Suk
JS
Lee
Keun Seok
KS
Hong
Young Seon
YS
Lee
Jung Suk
JS
You
Chang Hoon
CH
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011379:Prognosis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014342:Truth Disclosure