Information needs of early-stage prostate cancer patients: a comparison of nine countries.
OBJECTIVE
Providing information to patients can improve their medical and psychological outcomes. We sought to identify core information needs common to most early-stage prostate cancer patients in participating countries.


METHODS
Convenience samples of patients treated 3-24 months earlier were surveyed in Canada, England, Italy, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, and Turkey. Each participant rated the importance of addressing each of 92 questions in the diagnosis-to-treatment decision interval (essential/desired/no opinion/avoid). Multivariate modelling determined the extent of variance accounted by covariates, and produced an unbiased prediction of the proportion of essential responses for each question.


RESULTS
Six hundred and fifty-nine patients responded (response rates 45-77%). On average, 35-53 questions were essential within each country; similar questions were essential to most patients in most countries. Beyond cross-country similarities, each country showed wide variability in the number and which questions were essential. Multivariate modelling showed an adjusted R-squared with predictors country, age, education, and treatment group of only 6% of the variance. A core of 20 questions were predicted to be essential to >2/3 of patients.


CONCLUSIONS
Core information can be identified across countries. However, providing the core should only be a first step; each country should then provide information tailored to the needs of the individual patient.
Feldman-Stewart
Deb
D
Division of Cancer Care and Epidemiology, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. deb.feldman-stewart@krcc.on.ca
Capirci
Carlo
C
Brennenstuhl
Sarah
S
Tong
Christine
C
Abacioglu
Ufuk
U
Gawkowska-Suwinska
Marzena
M
van Gils
Francis
F
Heyda
Alicja
A
Igdem
Sefik
S
Macias
Victor
V
Grillo
Isabel Monteiro
IM
Moynihan
Clare
C
Pijls-Johannesma
Madelon
M
Parker
Chris
C
Pimentel
Nuno
N
Wördehoff
Herbert
H
D000368:Aged; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires