title: Patients' Preferences for Information About the Benefits and Risks of Second-Line Palliative Chemotherapy and Their Oncologist's Awareness of These Preferences.
abstract: Communication about palliative treatment options requires a balance between providing patients with sufficient information and not providing unwanted information. Surveys have indicated that many patients with advanced cancer express a wish to receive detailed information. In this prospective multicenter study, the information desire of patients with advanced breast or colorectal cancer was further investigated by offering treatment-related information to patients using a decision aid (DA). In addition, this study explored oncologists' awareness of their patients' information desire. Seventy-seven patients with advanced breast or colorectal cancer facing the decision whether to start second-line palliative chemotherapy were offered a DA by a nurse. This DA contained information on adverse events, tumor response, and survival. The nurse asked the patient whether each information item was desired. Ninety-five percent of patients chose to receive information on adverse events, 91 % chose to receive information on tumor response, and 74 % chose to receive information on survival. Oncologists' judgment of patients' information desire was 100, 97, and 81 %, respectively. For all three information items together, oncologists correctly judged the information desire of 62 % of patients. This study confirms that many patients with advanced cancer wish to receive detailed information on the benefits and risks of palliative treatment options when the information is actually available. Oncologists were adequately aware of this high information desire, but had some difficulty judging the information desire of individual patients. A stepped approach to giving information ("preview, ask, tell, ask") may help to better meet patients' information needs.
authors.affiliation: Department for Health Evidence, Radboudumc, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. lindaoostendorp@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Linda J M
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Oostendorp
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Petronella B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Ottevanger
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, VieCuri Medical Centre, Venlo, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Agnes J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: van de Wouw
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Isala Clinics, Zwolle, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Aafke H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Honkoop
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maartje
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Los
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Winette T A
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: van der Graaf
authors.affiliation: Department for Health Evidence, Radboudumc, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peep F M
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Stalmeier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D003142:Communication; D003657:Decision Making; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000072103:Oncologists; D010166:Palliative Care; D057240:Patient Preference; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: Breast cancer; Colorectal cancer; Decision aids; Information preference; Palliative chemotherapy