Decision‐making preferences and information needs among Greek breast cancer patients

Abstract

This study's findings showed that the proportion of patients who wanted to play a passive role in decision making is the highest reported compared to similar studies from other countries, indicating the impact of the dominating paternalistic model of the doctor-patient relationship in the Greek medical encounter. The association of desired information details and decision-making preferences with screening for cancer procedures prediagnostically highlights the significance of providing the patients with the appropriate information and the choices available for their treatment.

Older Women Breast Cancer Survivors: Decision Making, Sources of Information and Wellness Activities in Malaysia

“…Results from the study shows that older breast cancer patients made treatment decisions on their own. This finding is inconsistent with a previous study who found that older breast cancer patients were more comfortable to leave the treatment decisions to the physician or assume a less active role in making treatment decisions (Pinquart and Duberstein, 2004;Gaston and Mitchell, 2005;Almyroudi et al, 2010;Shelton et al, 2012).…”

“…A review of literature on decision-making and information provision in patients with advanced cancer pointed out that those who took an active role were younger and had a higher education level (Gaston and Mitchell, 2005). Younger and more educated women were likely to prefer more active roles (Almyroudi et al, 2010).…”

Does the cancer patient want to know? Results from a study in an Indian tertiary cancer center

“…[3233] A Study conducted in Greece suggested that while women expressed a general desire for as much information as possible about their illness, majority of women play a passive role in treatment decision-making and delegate responsibility of the decision completely to their doctor. [34]…”

Breast cancer patients’ information seeking during surgical consultations: A qualitative, videotape‐based analysis of patients’ questions

“…Most of these studies have been conducted in non‐U.S. contexts, such as in Australia , China , Germany , Greece , Jordan , Spain , and the United Kingdom . This is important because cultural differences shape breast cancer patients’ information needs .…”

“…For example, a number of studies involve patients' self-reports of information needs [23], which are only tenuously correlated with what patients actually ask about during consultations. Most of these studies have been conducted in non-U.S. contexts, such as in Australia [24], China [25,26], Germany [26], Greece [27], Jordan [28], Spain [29], and the United Kingdom [30,31]. This is important because cultural differences shape breast cancer patients' information needs [23,26,32].…”