title: Barriers against psychosocial communication: oncologists' perceptions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore oncologists' psychosocial attitudes and beliefs and their perceptions regarding barriers against psychosocial communication.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was distributed to oncologists in Sweden (n = 537). Questions covered demography, the Physician Psychosocial Beliefs Scale (PPBS), and barriers against psychosocial communication. Stepwise multiple regression was used to determine what factors contribute the most to the PPBS score and the total number of barriers and barriers affecting clinical practice, respectively. Spearman rank-order correlation was used to determine correlation between PPBS score and number of barriers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Questionnaire response rate was 64%. Mean PPBS value was 85.5 (range, 49 to 123; SD, 13.0). Most oncologists (93%) perceived one or more barriers in communicating psychosocial aspects with patients. On average, five different communication barriers were perceived, of which most were perceived to affect clinical practice. These barriers included insufficient consultation time, lack of resources for taking care of problems discovered, and lack of methods to evaluate patients' psychosocial health in clinical practice. There was a positive correlation (rs = 0.490; P < .001) between the PPBS score and the number of perceived barriers (ie, less psychosocially oriented oncologists perceived more barriers). Oncologists with supplementary education with a psychosocial focus perceived fewer barriers/barriers affecting clinical practice (P < .001 and P = .001, respectively) and were more psychosocially oriented (P = .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oncologists perceive many different barriers affecting psychosocial communication in clinical practice. Interventions aiming to improve psychosocial communication must therefore be multifaceted and individualized to clinics and individual oncologists. It is important to minimize barriers to facilitate optimal care and treatment of patients with cancer.
authors.affiliation: All authors: Uppsala University; Lena Ring, Medical Products Agency, Uppsala; Bengt Glimelius, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fagerlind
authors.forename: Åsa
authors.initials: Å
authors.lastname: Kettis
authors.forename: Bengt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Glimelius
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ring
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008495:Medical Oncology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D012938:Social Perception; D012944:Social Support; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D013997:Time Factors; D000078329:Workforce