title: Living better or living longer? Perceptions of patients and health care professionals in oncology.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cancer can influence the views of patients on treatment goals and make them different from those of health care professionals (HCPs). It is crucial to understand patient expectations regarding cancer treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a cross-sectional survey of patients with cancer and HCPs to evaluate their perceptions about treatment priorities and to analyse variables that might influence their opinions. To identify treatment choices, we interviewed all participants using a structured questionnaire with fictitious case vignettes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We enrolled a total of 230 participants, including 144 patients and 86 HCPs (35 nurses, 21 physicians, 30 others). Treatment priority between survival time (28.5% for patients vs. 8.1% for HCP) and quality of life (45.8% vs. 87.2%) differed significantly, with the remaining participants stating they were uncertain or unwilling to respond, or providing invalid responses (P < 0.01). In logistic regression, prioritising survival time was more frequent in patients, adjusting for age and gender (odds ratio (OR) = 3.95; P < 0.01). The view that the physician alone should be responsible for treatment choices was more frequent among patients than HCPs (18.8 vs. 5.8%; P = 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Brazil, our results suggest that survival time is more important for patients with cancer than for HCPs, whereas quality of life is more important for HCPs than for patients with cancer, who place great emphasis on physicians as decision-makers. Given that Brazilian patients often rely on physicians for decisions, the potential impact of different priorities between survival time and quality of life when patients and HCPs are compared is unknown.
authors.affiliation: Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo, Avenida Doutor Arnaldo, 251, São Paulo, Brazil ; Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Doutor Arnaldo, 455, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: de Araujo Toloi
authors.affiliation: Dendrix Research Ltd, Rua Joaquim Floriano, 72/24, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Critchi
authors.affiliation: Dendrix Research Ltd, Rua Joaquim Floriano, 72/24, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mangabeira
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Doutor Arnaldo, 455, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Matsushita
authors.affiliation: Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo, Avenida Doutor Arnaldo, 251, São Paulo, Brazil ; Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Doutor Arnaldo, 455, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rachel P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Riechelmann
authors.affiliation: Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo, Avenida Doutor Arnaldo, 251, São Paulo, Brazil ; Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Doutor Arnaldo, 455, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Hoff
authors.affiliation: Dendrix Research Ltd, Rua Joaquim Floriano, 72/24, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Everardo D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Saad
keywords: cancer; overall survival; quality of life; treatment