Information perception, wishes, and satisfaction in ambulatory cancer patients under active treatment: patient-reported outcomes with QLQ-INFO25.
BACKGROUND
Information is vital to cancer patients. Physician-patient communication in oncology presents specific challenges. The aim of this study was to evaluate self-reported information of cancer patients in ambulatory care at a comprehensive cancer centre and examine its possible association with patients' demographic and clinical characteristics.


METHODS
This study included adult patients with solid tumours undergoing chemotherapy at the Institute Jules Bordet's Day Hospital over a ten-day period. EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-INFO25 questionnaires were administered. Demographic and clinical data were collected. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used.


RESULTS
101 (99%) fully completed the questionnaires. They were mostly Belgian (74.3%), female (78.2%), with a mean age of 56.9 ± 12.8 years. The most frequent tumour was breast cancer (58.4%). Patients were well-informed about the disease and treatments, but presented unmet information domains. The Jules Bordet patients desired more information on treatment side effects, long-term outcome, nutrition, and recurrence symptoms. Patients on clinical trials reported having received less information about their disease and less written information than patients outside clinical trials. Higher information levels were associated with higher quality of life (QoL) scores and higher patient satisfaction.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients were satisfied with the information they received and this correlated with higher QoL, but they still expressed unmet information wishes. Additional studies are required to investigate the quality of the information received by patients enrolled in clinical trials.
Medicine Department, Medical Oncology Unit, Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard de Waterloo, 121 (7 Floor), 1000 Brussels, Belgium ; Br.E.A.S.T. Data Centre, Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels 1000, Belgium.
Ana Catarina
AC
Pinto
Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto 4200-135, Portugal ; Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, UCL Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH, UK.
Fernando
F
Ferreira-Santos
Medicine Department, Medical Oncology Unit, Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard de Waterloo, 121 (7 Floor), 1000 Brussels, Belgium.
Lissandra Dal
LD
Lago
Medicine Department, Medical Oncology Unit, Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard de Waterloo, 121 (7 Floor), 1000 Brussels, Belgium ; Br.E.A.S.T. Data Centre, Institut Jules Bordet, Brussels 1000, Belgium.
Evandro
E
de Azambuja
Health Sciences, University of Aveiro, Aveiro 3810-193, Portugal.
Francisco Luís
FL
Pimentel
Medicine Department, Medical Oncology Unit, Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard de Waterloo, 121 (7 Floor), 1000 Brussels, Belgium.
Martine
M
Piccart-Gebhart
Psychosomatic and Psycho-Oncology Research Unit, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels 1050, Belgium ; Psycho-Oncology Clinic, Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels 1000, Belgium.
Darius
D
Razavi
ambulatory care facility; cancer; information; physician–patient relations; quality of life; questionnaires