Patients Preferences in Breaking Bad News: A Cross-Sectional Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32007/jfacmedbaghdad2387Keywords:
Breaking Bad News, Cancer, Communication, Health care setting, SPIKESAbstract
Background: Doctors and patients communicating effectively is a very important base in cancer clinics and out-patient, the “Bad” news is any information that drastically alters a patient’s prospect of their life and forthcoming possibilities. It includes facts about diagnosis, recurrence, and treatment failure in clinical oncology settings.
Objective: To assess the attitudes of cancer patients toward receiving bad news of their condition and the relationships of some sociodemographic variables to these attitudes.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from the 19th of February to the 1st of June 2017 at the Oncology Hospital in the Medical City Teaching Centre/Baghdad. A group of 212 cases completed the questionnaire, which included socio-demographic information (age, gender, marital status, occupation, and education). The preference and attitude questions were set as in the recommended steps of the SPIKES protocol, which is a six-part method for sharing bad news with patients (Setting, Perception, Invitation, Knowledge, Emotions, and Summary).
Result: Patients were classified into two age groups: those 50 years or older (64.2%) and those below 50 years (35.8%). Of the 212 cases, 46.2% were housewives, and 20.8% were government employees. The majority of patients (80.2%) preferred to be informed about their disease, its type, its prognosis, treatment, and life expectancy on the first visit. Most of the participants (67.9%) thought that the most experienced and skilled doctors have to notify them completely about their medical condition. The majority of them (81.1%) preferred that the physician use the word (disease) instead of "cancer. Most patients (75.5%) thought that it is better to train healthcare professionals in communication skills and how to break bad news.
Conclusion: Patients diagnosed with cancer are willing to learn about the diagnosis and are keen to receive details as early as possible about its type and prognosis, treatment, and life expectancy.
Received: Jul. 2024
Revised: Nov. 2024
Accepted: Jan. 2025
Published: April 2025
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Copyright (c) 2025 Israa H. Nader, Lamyaa A. Hasan, Manwar A. Al-Naqqash, Saad D. Tahir
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