title: Do radiation oncologists tailor information to patients needs? And, if so, does it affect patients?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Our study aims to investigate whether information given by radiation oncologists to their patients is tailored to the patient's desired level of information and, if so, what the effect of tailoring is on patient-reported outcomes, i.e. satisfaction, health, anxiety and self-efficacy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive radiotherapy patients (n = 150) completed a baseline questionnaire one week before their initial consultation, immediately following this consultation, and again one week prior to their first follow-up visit. The initial consultation was videotaped and 10 radiation oncologists' information giving behavior (content and duration) analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall amount of information provided by the radiation oncologists matched with patients' information needs in 50.8% (k = 0.07) of the consultations. No significant associations between tailored information giving and patient-reported outcomes were found, except for tailoring of information on procedures, and patients' anxiety and global health. These associations were no longer significant when correcting for patients' background characteristics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that radiation oncologists poorly tailor their information to the needs of their patients. However, lack of tailoring is not associated with worse patient-reported outcomes. Until more evidence is available, radiation oncologists may explicitly ask patients about their information preferences and tailor the information provided accordingly.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. k.f.douma@amc.uva.nl
authors.forename: Kirsten F L
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Douma
authors.forename: Caro C E
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Koning
authors.forename: Hanneke C J M
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: de Haes
authors.forename: Linda C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Zandbelt
authors.forename: Lukas J A
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Stalpers
authors.forename: Ellen M A
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Smets
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018787:Radiation Oncology; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult