Do radiation oncologists tailor information to patients needs? And, if so, does it affect patients?

Abstract

Background. Our study aims to investigate whether information given by radiation oncologists to their patients is tailored to the patient's desired level of information and, if so, what the effect of tailoring is on patient-reported outcomes, i.e. satisfaction, health, anxiety and self-efficacy. Material and methods. Consecutive radiotherapy patients (n = 150) completed a baseline questionnaire one week before their initial consultation, immediately following this consultation, and again one week prior to their first follow-up visit. The initial consultation was videotaped and 10 radiation oncologists’ information giving behavior (content and duration) analyzed. Results. The overall amount of information provided by the radiation oncologists matched with patients’ information needs in 50.8% (k = 0.07) of the consultations. No significant associations between tailored information giving and patient-reported outcomes were found, except for tailoring of information on procedures, and patients’ anxiety and global health. These associations were no longer significant when correcting for patients’ background characteristics. Conclusion. This study shows that radiation oncologists poorly tailor their information to the needs of their patients. However, lack of tailoring is not associated with worse patient-reported outcomes. Until more evidence is available, radiation oncologists may explicitly ask patients about their information preferences and tailor the information provided accordingly.

Acknowledgments

This study was financially supported by the Dutch Cancer Society (grant UVA 2005 - 3199). The Dutch Cancer Society had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis or interpretation of the data; in the writing of the manuscript; and in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The authors are grateful to all patients and radiation oncologists who participated in this study, and also thank the coders who carefully coded the videotapes. The authors have no conflict of interest to be reported.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.