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Most elderly patients want to be informed of cancer diagnosis

LONDON (Reuters Health) – Although physicians sometimes fail to inform elderly patients of a cancer diagnosis, most patients want to be told of their condition, UK researchers report in the British Medical Journal for November 17.

Dr. Aza J. J. Abdulla and colleagues from Mid-Staffordshire General Hospitals in Stafford, UK questioned 270 men and women, 65 to 94 years of age, about how much they would want to know if they were diagnosed with cancer.

While 80% of the subjects said that they wanted to be informed of a cancer diagnosis, significantly, more older patients did not want to be told–6.4% of those under 75 years of age compared with 13.7% of those over 75 years of age (p = 0.04). Subjects with limited mobility also had significantly less interest in being told of a cancer diagnosis compared with those who could walk (7% versus 28%, p = 0.002), the researchers found.

Of the majority who wanted to be informed of the diagnosis, 62% wanted as much information as possible, including the type of cancer, the extent of the disease, treatment and prognosis. More than 70% of the subjects wanted to have their relatives told about the diagnosis, Dr. Abdulla's group reports.

"Our study clarifies this issue and should help decision making in the difficult situation where family members ask that their elderly relatives should not be informed," Dr. Abdulla and colleagues write.

"Many studies have shown that patients want much more information than their doctors believe they do," Dr. Lesley Fallowfield, from the University of Sussex, comments in a journal editorial.

"True patient participation…and involvement in decision making is, for most, an unachievable goal unless we see some real improvements in the current system of healthcare delivery. Too many patients are being seen by too few doctors in overburdened clinics with inadequate support staff for meeting…the individual information needs of patients with cancer," Dr. Fallowfield notes.

BMJ 2001;323:1144,1160.

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