COMMUNICATION OF ONCOLOGICAL PATIENTS WITH ONCOLOGISTS: MAIN PROBLEMS AND PROBLEM-SOLVING STRATEGIES
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11603/ijmmr.2413-6077.2022.2.13594Keywords:
communication, quality of life, cancerAbstract
Background. Physician-patient сommunication is one of the main supportive care provided to oncological patients. It affects treatment outcomes, as well as the interaction of patients within the society, their family and colleagues. Furthermore, COVID-19 and military invasion of Russia into Ukraine makes the issue of improvement of physician-patient communication urgent.
Objective. The aim of the study is to develop recommendations based on the analysis of denfined problems in physician-patient communication in of oncological treatment.
Methods. The sociological research involved 419 patients during their inpatient treatment in the period from November 2021 to February 2022 using the EORTC QLQ-COMU26 questionnaire.
Results. In the pre-war period, in Ukrainian patients with oncological diseases the worst indicators were established for “Active role of a patient” (82.00) and “Correction of misunderstandings by a specialist” (89.19). The best indicators were established for “Skills of the specialist (verbal/non-verbal)” with the score of 93.25 by a 100-point grading scale, as well as “Satisfaction with communication” – 97.04 by a 100-point grading scale.
Conclusions. When developing programs for organization of oncological care, mechanisms for providing psychological care to patients through effective communication between patients and specialists regarding providing medical and psychological care must be taken into account.
References
Rogge AA, Helmer SM, King R, et al. Effects of training oncology physicians advising patients on complementary and integrative therapies on patient-reported outcomes: A multicenter, cluster-randomized trial. Cancer. 2021;127(15):2683-2692.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.33562
Levinson W. Patient-centred communication: a sophisticated procedure. BMJ Qual Saf. 2011;20(10): 823-825.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2011-000323
Stiefel F, Kiss A, Salmon P, Peters S, Razavi D, Cervantes A, et al. Training in communication of oncology clinicians: a position paper based on the third consensus meeting among European experts in 2018. Ann Oncol. 2018;29(10):2033-2036.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdy343
Clayton JM, Hancock K, Parker S, Butow PN, Walder S, Carrick S, et al. Sustaining hope when communicating with terminally ill patients and their families: a systematic review. Psychooncology. 2008;17(7):641-659.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.1288
Sichkoriz O, Zimenkovsky A, Gutor T. Analysis of expectations and satisfaction of physicians (provisors)-interns in Ukraine at the stage of primary specialization – internship training. Med. perspekt. 2022;27(1):16-23.
https://doi.org/10.26641/2307-0404.2022.1. 254317
Henselmans I, Brugel SD, de Haes HC, Wolvetang KJ, de Vries LM, Pieterse AH, et al. Promoting shared decision making in advanced cancer: development and piloting of a patient communication aid. Patient Educ Couns. 2019;102(5):916-923.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2018.12.018
Sodomora, P., Gutor, L., Tryndiuk, V., Lobanova, S. Student Storytelling for Communication Skill Development Online (in the Time of COVID-19 Quarantine). New Educational Review. 2021;63,149-160.
doi: https://doi.org/10.15804/tner.2021.63.1.12
Riccò B, Fiorani C, Ferrara L, Potenza L, Saviola A, Malavasi N, et al. Survey on the effectiveness of telephone-based communication with relatives of hospitalized cancer patients in COVID-19 era in Italy. Support Care Cancer. 2022;30(7):6007–6012.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-022-07042-1
Gray NA, Back AL. COVID-19 communication aids. BMJ. 2020;369:m2255.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2255
Negro A, Mucci M, Beccaria P, Borghi G, Capocasa T, Cardinali M, et al. Introducing the video call to facilitate the communication between health care providers and families of patients in the intensive care unit during COVID-19 pandemia. Intensive Crit Care Nurs. 2020;60:102893.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iccn.2020.102893
Selim S, Kunkel E, Wegier P, Tanuseputro P, Downar J, Isenberg SR, et al. A systematic review of interventions aiming to improve communication of prognosis to adult patients. Patient Educ Couns 2020;103(8):1467-1497.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2020.02.029
Vasista A, Stockler MR, Martin A, Lawrence NJ, Kiely BE. Communicating prognostic information: what do oncologists think patients with incurable cancer should be told? Intern Med J. 2020;50(12):1492-1499.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/imj.14739
Elkin EB, Kim SH, Casper ES, Kissane DW, Schrag D. Desire for information and involvement in treatment decisions: elderly cancer patients' preferences and their physicians' perceptions. J Clin Oncol. 2007;25(33):5275-5280.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2007.11.1922
Jenkins V, Solis-Trapala I, Langridge C, Catt S, Talbot DC, Fallowfield LJ. What oncologists believe they said and what patients believe they heard: an analysis of phase I trial discussions. J Clin Oncol. 2011;29(1):61-68.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2010.30.0814
Weeks JC, Catalano PJ, Cronin A, Finkelman MD, Mack JW, Keating NL, et al. Patients’ expectations about effects of chemotherapy for advanced cancer. N Engl J Med. 2012;367(17):1616-1625.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1204410
Arraras JI, Wintner LM, Sztankay M, Tomaszewski KA, Hofmeister D, Costantini A, et al. Conducted on behalf of the EORTC Quality of Life Group. EORTC QLQ-COMU26: a questionnaire for the assessment of communication between patients and professionals. Phase III of the module development in ten countries. Support Care Cancer. 2017;25(5): 1485-1494.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-016-3536-0
Communication. EORTC Quality of life. Available from: https://qol.eortc.org/questionnaire/qlq-comu26/
Baile WF, Buckman R, Lenzi R, Glober G, Beale EA, Kudelka AP. SPIKES – a six-step protocol for delivering bad news: application to the patient with cancer. The Oncologist. 2000;5(4):302–311.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1634/theoncologist.5-4-302
Back AL, Arnold RM, Baile WF, Tulsky JA, Fryer-Edwards K. Approaching difficult communication tasks in oncology. CA Cancer J Clin. 2005;55(3):164–177.
doi: https://doi.org/10.3322/canjclin.55.3.164
Helmer SM, Rogge AA, Fischer F, Pach D, Horneber M, Roll S, et al. Evaluation of a blended-learning training concept to train oncology physicians to advise their patients about complementary and integrative medicine (KOKON-KTO): study protocol for a prospective, multi-center, cluster-randomized trial. Trials. 2019;20(1):90.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-019-3193-y
Johnson M, Tod AM, Brummell S, Collins K. Prognostic communication in cancer: a critical interpretive synthesis of the literature. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2015;19(5):554-567.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejon.2015.03.001
Clayton JM, Natalia C, Butow PN, Simpson JM, O’Brien AM, Devine R, et al. Physician endorsement alone may not enhance question-asking by advanced cancer patients during consultations about palliative care. Support Care Cancer 2012;20(7):1457-1464.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-011-1229-2
Beach WA, Dozier DM. Fears, uncertainties, and hopes: patient-initiated actions and doctors’ responses during oncology interviews. J Health Commun 2015;20(11):1243-1254.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2015.1018644
Niranjan SJ, Turkman Y, Williams BR, Williams CP, Halilova KI, Smith T, et al. “I’d want to know, because a year’s not a long time to prepare for a death”: role of prognostic information in shared decision making among women with metastatic breast cancer. J Palliative Med. 2020;23(7):937-943.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2019.0457
Leonhardt M, Aschenbrenner K, Kreis ME, Lauscher JC. Does migrant background predict to what extent colorectal cancer patients want to be informed about their life expectancy? - a cross-sectional analysis. Int J Equity Health. 2019;18(1):192.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-019-1105-0
Douglas SL, Daly BJ, Meropol NJ, Lipson AR. Patient-physician discordance in goals of care for patients with advanced cancer. Curr Oncol. 2019; 26(6):370-379.
doi: https://doi.org/10.3747/co.26.5431
El-Jawahri A, Forst D, Fenech A, Brenner KO, Jankowski AL, Waldman L, et al. Relationship between perceptions of treatment goals and psychological distress in patients with advanced cancer. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2020;18(7):849-855.
doi: https://doi.org/10.6004/jnccn.2019.7525
Borghi L. Clinician-patient-family member interactions in COVID-19 serious conditions: a glimpse from the other side of the limbo. Patient Educ Couns. 2021;104(8):1887-1888.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.02.003
Kross EK, Engelberg RA, Gries CJ, Nielsen EL, Zatzick D, Curtis JR. ICU care associated with symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder among family members of patients who die in the ICU. Chest .2011;139(4):795–801.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1378/chest.10-0652
Seo YJ, Park H. Factors influencing caregiver burden in families of hospitalised patients with lung cancer. J Clin Nurs. 2019;28(9-10):1979–1989.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 International Journal of Medicine and Medical Research
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who sent their manuscript to International Journal of Medicine and Medical Research agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY-NC that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Authors able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
