Anita Amundsen1, Svein Bergvik2, Phyllis Butow3, Martin H N Tattersall4, Tore Sørlie5, Tone Nordøy6. 1. University Hospital of North Norway, Oncology Department, Tromsø, Norway. Electronic address: anita.amundsen@unn.no. 2. Department of Psychology, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway. 3. Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-based Decision-making (CeMPED), School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. 4. Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-based Decision-Making (CeMPED), Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. 5. Department of Clinical Medicine, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway; Department of Mental Health and Addictions, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway. 6. University Hospital of North Norway, Oncology Department, Tromsø, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To document the effect of a cancer specific question prompt list (QPL) on patients question asking and shared decision-making (SDM), and to evaluate the combined effect of the QPL and consultation audio recording (CAR) on patient outcomes. METHOD: This exploratory study compared two groups of patients receiving either a QPL or combined QPL/CAR, to a control group. Measurements included number/types of questions asked, and physician SDM behavior (OPTION score). Questionnaire data included anxiety/depression and quality of life (QoL). RESULTS: A total of 93 patients participated (31 Control, 30 QPL and 32 Combined). Patients in the intervention groups asked more questions concerning prognosis (p < .0001), the disease (p = .006) and quality of treatment (p < .001) than patients in the control group, but no impact was found on the OPTION score. An increase in mean consultation length was observed in the intervention groups compared to the control group (44 vs. 36 min; p = .028). Patients rated both interventions positively. CONCLUSION: Provision of the QPL facilitates patients to ask a broader range of questions, but does not increase physician SDM behavior. PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION: The combination of QPL and CAR seems feasible and should be tested in an implementation study following the disease trajectory.
OBJECTIVE: To document the effect of a cancer specific question prompt list (QPL) on patients question asking and shared decision-making (SDM), and to evaluate the combined effect of the QPL and consultation audio recording (CAR) on patient outcomes. METHOD: This exploratory study compared two groups of patients receiving either a QPL or combined QPL/CAR, to a control group. Measurements included number/types of questions asked, and physician SDM behavior (OPTION score). Questionnaire data included anxiety/depression and quality of life (QoL). RESULTS: A total of 93 patients participated (31 Control, 30 QPL and 32 Combined). Patients in the intervention groups asked more questions concerning prognosis (p < .0001), the disease (p = .006) and quality of treatment (p < .001) than patients in the control group, but no impact was found on the OPTION score. An increase in mean consultation length was observed in the intervention groups compared to the control group (44 vs. 36 min; p = .028). Patients rated both interventions positively. CONCLUSION: Provision of the QPL facilitates patients to ask a broader range of questions, but does not increase physician SDM behavior. PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION: The combination of QPL and CAR seems feasible and should be tested in an implementation study following the disease trajectory.