[Fourteen-year attitude survey on cancer disclosure to new outpatients of urology department].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate if timing of first visit, ages, sex, family history of cancer, and smoking history would cause any differences in patients' attitude toward cancer disclosure.


METHODS
Subjects were 10,552 patients who first visited Urology Department of Nihonkai Hospital between 1993 and 2007, and were asked to fill in the questionnaire. The questionnaire contents are as follows: "If you were diagnosed as having cancer, would you like to be informed about the diagnosis of your disease?", and "If your families were diagnosed as having cancer, would you like to inform them about the diagnosis of their disease?". The subjects were asked to select their answers from the following options: (1) "fully informed", (2) "informed only when it is curable", (3) "not informed", and (4) "can not decide now". The relation of patients' attitude toward cancer disclosure with the timing of first visit, ages, sex, family history of cancer, and smoking history was investigated.


RESULTS
The response rate was approximately 80%. If the subjects would have cancer, 71.5% preferred to be informed ("fully informed" or "informed if it is curable"), and 9.2% did not. If the subjects' family would have cancer, 55.5% preferred their family to be informed ("fully informed" or "informed if it is curable"), and 14.9% did not. As it became more recent, both the rate of subjects who did not prefer to be informed (11.5% in 1993-1995, and 8.0% in 2005-2007) and the rate of those who did not prefer their family to be informed (18.6% in 1993-1995, and 11.0% in 2005-2007) decreased. Young subjects, men, and smokers more preferred to be informed. The subjects who had family history of cancer more preferred to inform them, but less to inform their family.


CONCLUSIONS
As it became more recent, both the subjects who did not prefer to be informed and those who did not prefer their family to be informed decreased. The idea that cancer disclosure was necessary to select the treatment methods based on each patient's preference and decision had been pervasive.
Department of Urology, Nihonkai General Hospital.
Hiroshi
H
Kakizaki
Yuta
Y
Kurota
Tomohiro
T
Sibasaki
Yuko
Y
Nakano
Hisashi
H
Kaneko
Noriyuki
N
Hosoya
Toshihiko
T
Sakurai
Sei
S
Naito
Akinori
A
Muto
Tomoyuki
T
Kato
Yoshihiko
Y
Tomita
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D030881:Disclosure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014573:Urology Department, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult