Diagnosis Disclosure: Patient Preferences and the Role of the Breast Nurse Navigator

The Disclosure of Bad News Over the Phone vs. in Person and its Association with Psychological Distress: a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Three studies found that patients who received the diagnosis via telephone were less satisfied with disclosure compared to those who were told in person. 10 , 19 , 22 Two studies did not reveal an association between telephone or in-person disclosure and patient satisfaction within the subsequent 6 weeks as well as 4, 8 and 17 months, respectively. 15 , 23 In the study of Campbell et al, 24 patients who received the bad news via telephone were more likely to be satisfied to have been informed this way than patients who were told in person.…”

“…The 11 included studies were published between 1997 and 2021 and predominantly conducted in the USA 10 , 18 – 22 as well as in Australia 23 and European countries, i.e., the United Kingdom, 24 the Netherlands, 25 Germany, 15 and Denmark. 26 Study sample sizes ranged from 24 to 434 participants.…”

“…26 Study sample sizes ranged from 24 to 434 participants. Seven studies evaluated the disclosure of malignancy diagnoses such as breast cancer, 15 , 22 , 24 gynecologic cancer [ 19 ], thoracic cancer, 26 melanoma, 23 and different types of cancer. 10 The remaining 4 studies assessed breaking bad news of genetic testing results for high-risk constellations of hereditary breast, gynecological and/or gastrointestinal cancer, 18 , 21 Alzheimer disease 20 and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.…”

“…Eight studies published in 1997 to 2019 reported findings on the association of disclosure of bad news via telephone vs. in person and patient satisfaction at follow-up with inconclusive results. 10 , 15 , 18 , 19 , 22 – 25 In 3 of these, telephone disclosure was associated with lower satisfaction and in 2 with higher satisfaction. Lastly, 3 studies did not show any association between telephone or in-person disclosure and satisfaction.…”

Considerations for the Telephone Disclosure of Genetic Test Results to Patients With Cancer

“…would like to thank Cantril, Moore, and Yan (2019) for their informative article on patient preferences for the disclosure of a breast cancer diagnosis in the December issue of the Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing. The findings of Cantril et al's (2019) study suggest that patients prefer in-person disclosure.…”