Patient's Cognition toward the Disclosure of Cancer Diagnosis

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the actual condition and the general cognition toward the disclosure of diagnosis among cancer patients. Methods: A survey using a structured questionnaire was conducted with 195 cancer patient from October 18, 2011 to November 19. The data was analyzed with SPSS (version 18.0) for frequency analysis and χ 2 test. Results: 88.2% of cancer patients were agreed to the disclosure of cancer diagnosis. Cancer patients had preferences for a doctor to notify the disclosure of their cancer diagnosis (90.8%) and immediate notification of the cancer diagnosis (89.7%). The sequences of disclosing cancer diagnosis were following; the patient and the care-giver notified at the same time (47.2%). the patient notified first (32.3%) and the care-giver notified first (20.5%). Cognition toward disclosure of cancer diagnosis was statistically significant only with age (p = .003). Conclusion: These result suggested that cancer patient wanted to notify their cancer diagnosis by doctor, as soon as cancer diagnosis confirmed, before notifying to their family, and to know accurate cancer related information. Therefore, principals and guidelines in disclosing cancer diagnosis are essential to increase the quality of cancer patient care.

Do Patients Want to Listen to a Diagnosis of Dementia in Korea? Preferences on Disclosing a Diagnosis of Dementia and Discussing Advance Care Planning in Elderly Patients with Memory Concerns and Their Families

“… 12 21 The rates for wanting to know a diagnosis of dementia in this study were comparable to those in cancer from other studies, where 88% to 96% of patients want to know their cancer diagnosis. 22 23 24 It is possible that participants would have a higher interest in knowing if they have dementia specifically than other serious diseases such as cancer. The results from this study suggest that elderly people with memory concerns would be willing to listen to their diagnosis of dementia.…”

Discordance between Perceived and Actual Cancer Stage among Cancer Patients in Korea: A Nationwide Survey

“…In a Korean study, 78% of cancer patients informed their families of the terminal-stage status first, while only 26% of the patients were informed [8] . In a 2013 study, patients' guardians were informed in 32.3% of cases, showing that the family plays an important role in decision-making [7] . However, due to social norms and values in the US, 97% of patients prefer their doctors to directly inform them of their diagnosis; this is a higher rate than in Eastern countries [22] , [33] .…”

“…However, in a recent study in Korea, although a majority of patients wanted to be fully informed about their diagnosis, cancer stage, prognosis, and treatment plan (73.8%), only 33.3% of them were provided with sufficient information [7] . In another study, 86% of cancer patients knew that they had cancer, but merely 37% had accurate knowledge of their stage [8] .…”

Awareness of Cancer and Cancer Screening by Korean Community Residents

“…On this method, it was difficult for subjects to identify variable ideas of cancer and cancer screening. Therefore, this study investigated the differences of recognition for cancer and cancer screening between region, gender and age groups based on the previous researches (Choe et al, 2003;Chun and Park, 2013;Ghani et al, 2013).…”