Improving Communication Between Doctors and Breast Cancer Patients

Overview

Journal Ann Fam Med

Specialty Public Health

Date 2007 Sep 26

PMID 17893379

Citations 31

Authors

Moira Stewart

Judith Belle Brown

Joanne Hammerton

Allan Donner

Alan Gavin

Ronald L Holliday

Tim Whelan

Ken Leslie

Irene Cohen

Wayne Weston

Tom Freeman

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: We wanted to assess the effectiveness of intensive education for physicians compared with a traditional session on communicating with breast cancer patients.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted in practices in London, Hamilton, and Toronto, Canada, with 17 family physicians, 16 surgeons, and 18 oncologists, and with 102 patients of the surgeons and oncologists. Doctors were randomized to 1 of 2 continuing education approaches: a traditional 2-hour version (control group), or a new 6-hour intensive version including exploring the patients' perspectives and reviewing videotapes and receiving feedback (intervention group). Communication behavior of the physicians was measured objectively both before and after the intervention. As well, 4 postintervention patient outcomes were measured, by design only for surgeons and oncologists: patient-centerdness of the visit, satisfaction, psychological distress, and feeling better.

Results: No significant differences were found on the communication score of the intervention vs the control physicians when controlling for preintervention communication scores. Intervention family physicians, however, had significantly higher communication subscores than control family physicians. Also, patients of the intervention surgeons and oncologists were significantly more satisfied (scores of 82.06 vs 77.78, P = .03) and felt better (88.2% vs 70.6%, P=.02) than patients of the control surgeons and oncologists when controlling for covariates and adjusting for clustering within doctor.

Conclusions: The continuing medical education intervention was effective in terms of some but not all physician and patient outcomes.

Citing Articles

Differences in the Communication of Cancer Diagnoses by Different Health Professionals and the Impact of Oncologist Communication on Patients' Emotions.

Ruiz Sancho E, Perez Nieto M, Roman F, Leon Mateos L, Sanchez Escamilla F, Enrech Frances S Cancers (Basel). 2024; 16(13).

PMID: 39001506 PMC: 11240351. DOI: 10.3390/cancers16132444.

The black box of the relationship between breast cancer patients and accompanying patients: the accompanied patients' point of view.

Pomey M, Iliescu Nelea M, Vialaron C, Normandin L, Cote M, Desforges M BMC Cancer. 2024; 24(1):822.

PMID: 38987731 PMC: 11234724. DOI: 10.1186/s12885-024-12585-z.

A systematic review of shared decision making training programs for general practitioners.

Jaeken J, Billiouw C, Mertens L, Van Bostraeten P, Bekkering G, Vermandere M BMC Med Educ. 2024; 24(1):592.

PMID: 38811922 PMC: 11137915. DOI: 10.1186/s12909-024-05557-1.

Rethinking parameters of "success" in breaking bad news conversations from patient's perspective: the successful delivery process model.

Koch M, Seifart C Support Care Cancer. 2024; 32(3):181.

PMID: 38386098 PMC: 10884081. DOI: 10.1007/s00520-024-08354-0.

Contextualizing the revised Patient Perception of Patient-Centeredness (PPPC-R) scale in primary healthcare settings: a validity and reliability evaluation study.

Cai Y, Guo P, Tu J, Hu M, Liu L, Ryan B BMC Prim Care. 2024; 25(1):11.

PMID: 38178035 PMC: 10768460. DOI: 10.1186/s12875-023-02227-x.

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