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Receiving the Diagnosis of Lung Cancer: Patient Recall of Information and Satisfaction With Physician Communication

Sabine Gabrijel, Leticia Grize, Erich Helfenstein, Martin Brutsche, Paul Grossman, Michael Tamm, Alexander Kiss

From the Division of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital; Division of Pulmonary Medicine and Cell Research, University Hospital; and the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Address reprint requests to Alexander Kiss, MD, Division of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland; e-mail: akiss{at}uhbs.ch

Purpose Little is known about the information newly diagnosed patients with lung cancer recall and how satisfied they are with physicians' communication.

Patients and Methods Seventy-one consecutive patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer were surveyed 1 to 3 days after the disclosure of diagnosis. Patients' recall of the given information was assessed, as well as their satisfaction with physicians' communication of diagnosis, treatment procedure, and goal of treatment as curative or palliative. Physicians who provided diagnosis were asked to complete a questionnaire concerning what information they had given to the patient. Congruence between physician information and patient recall of that information was then evaluated.

Results Ninety percent (62 of 69 patients) correctly recalled their physician's information about the diagnosis, 83% (55 of 66 patients) knew what treatment procedure their physicians proposed, and 49% (32 of 65 patients) accurately recalled information about the goal of treatment. Seventy-six and 73% of patients were highly satisfied with their physician's communication of diagnosis and treatment procedure, respectively. Only 39% were highly satisfied with communication of the treatment goal. Patients who correctly recalled information regarding the treatment procedure were significantly more satisfied with its communication.

Conclusion Recall of information about the intent of treatment is poor, and satisfaction with communication of the intent of treatment is lacking among newly diagnosed patients with lung cancer. Future studies should address whether specific interventions can improve these deficiencies.

Authors' disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and author contributions are found at the end of this article.

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