title: Perception of prognosis of cancer patients by non-oncologists.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Data are lacking regarding the perception of cancer patients' prognosis by physicians who are not oncologists.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a multicenter survey of seven university-affiliated hospitals, assessing physicians' perception of the median survival of patients with seven advanced malignancies. The study cohort included physicians from all 73 internal medicine, surgery, emergency medicine and critical care departments in the participating hospitals. Family practitioners were contacted through email. Physicians' specialty, age, professional status and hospital type (secondary vs tertiary) were noted. The primary end-point was defined as the percentage of answers with a pessimistic error of more than a year in perception of prognosis as compared with current literature. The secondary end-point was defined as any pessimistic answer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four hundred and eighty-eight physicians filled the questionnaire, including 429 hospital physicians and 59 family practitioners. Perception of prognosis was pessimistic when compared with current literature, with 37% and 59% of the answers meeting the primary and the secondary end-points, respectively. Younger age, resident status and work at a secondary hospital were associated with pessimistic perception (P<.001 for all variables). Pessimistic outlook was similar for all specialties and for most malignancies, including those with considerable cure rates such as Hodgkin's lymphoma and germ cell tumour.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Non-oncologists are considerably over pessimistic regarding their perception of the cancer patients' prognosis. A pessimistic perception of prognosis might cause undertreatment and therefore affect both patients' quality of life and their actual survival. Education regarding cancer therapy and its benefits should be emphasised for non-oncologists involved in cancer patient care.
authors.affiliation: Davidoff Center, Rabin Medical Center, Institute of Oncology, Beilinson Hospital, Petach Tikva, Israel.
authors.forename: Hadar
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Goldvaser
authors.affiliation: Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Yonatan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Milman
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, Emek Medical Center, Afula, Israel.
authors.forename: Tal
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dujovni
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Anat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stern
authors.affiliation: Medicine A, Meir Hospital, Kfar-Saba, Israel.
authors.forename: Muhamad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahamid
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Tzrifin, Israel.
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hanovich
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Rabin Medical Center, Petach Tikva, Israel.
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zivony
authors.affiliation: Statistical Consulting Unit, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petach Tikva, Israel.
authors.forename: Tzippy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shochat
authors.affiliation: Davidoff Center, Rabin Medical Center, Institute of Oncology, Beilinson Hospital, Petach Tikva, Israel.|Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Rinat
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yerushalmi
authors.affiliation: Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.|Medicine A, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petach Tikva, Israel.
authors.forename: Anat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gafter-Gvili
authors.affiliation: Davidoff Center, Rabin Medical Center, Institute of Oncology, Beilinson Hospital, Petach Tikva, Israel.|Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Baruch
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brenner
authors.affiliation: Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.|Medicine A, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Hospital, Petach Tikva, Israel.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shepshelovich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008495:Medical Oncology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011379:Prognosis; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: cancer; perception; physicians; prognosis