AIMS: To examine the relationship between informing patients of cancer and the quality of terminal care. METHODS: This was a study of 87 consecutive terminally ill cancer patients who died during the last 27-month period. Notification of cancer was classified into 4 groups (A, B, C, and D, respectively): "nondisclosure," "disclosure of cancer diagnosis," "disclosure of life threatening," and "disclosure of poor prognosis." We evaluated the quality of palliative care using Support Team Assessment Schedule-Japanese (STAS-J). RESULTS: A, B, C, and D groups included 8, 22, 37, and 20 cases, respectively. Regarding physical symptoms, no marked difference was noted. Anxiety was significantly reduced, and the recognition of disease conditions and the level of communication were significantly higher in the groups that received specific information (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Informing patients of more specific information will increase the quality of terminal care.
AIMS: To examine the relationship between informing patients of cancer and the quality of terminal care. METHODS: This was a study of 87 consecutive terminally ill cancerpatients who died during the last 27-month period. Notification of cancer was classified into 4 groups (A, B, C, and D, respectively): "nondisclosure," "disclosure of cancer diagnosis," "disclosure of life threatening," and "disclosure of poor prognosis." We evaluated the quality of palliative care using Support Team Assessment Schedule-Japanese (STAS-J). RESULTS: A, B, C, and D groups included 8, 22, 37, and 20 cases, respectively. Regarding physical symptoms, no marked difference was noted. Anxiety was significantly reduced, and the recognition of disease conditions and the level of communication were significantly higher in the groups that received specific information (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Informing patients of more specific information will increase the quality of terminal care.
Entities:
Keywords:
STAS (Support Team Assessment Schedule); cancer; clinical audit; disclosure of cancer; oncology; truth telling
Authors: Naomi C A van der Velden; Maartje C Meijers; Paul K J Han; Hanneke W M van Laarhoven; Ellen M A Smets; Inge Henselmans Journal: Curr Treat Options Oncol Date: 2020-04-23
Authors: N C A van der Velden; M B A van der Kleij; V Lehmann; E M A Smets; J M L Stouthard; I Henselmans; M A Hillen Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-05-26 Impact factor: 3.390