1. If you had less than a year to live, would you want to know? A seven-country European population survey of public preferences for disclosure of poor prognosis
- Author
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Franco Toscani, Barbara Gomes, Luc Deliens, Lucas Ceulemans, Pedro Lopes Ferreira, Claudia Bausewein, Natalia Calanzani, Barbara A Daveson, Irene J Higginson, Arantza Meñaca, Richard Harding, Sue Hall, Victoria Simms, and Marjolein Gysels
- Subjects
education.field_of_study ,Pediatrics ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Poor prognosis ,Truth Disclosure ,business.industry ,Cross-sectional study ,Population ,Psychological intervention ,Experimental and Cognitive Psychology ,Public opinion ,Preference ,3. Good health ,03 medical and health sciences ,Psychiatry and Mental health ,0302 clinical medicine ,Oncology ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Medicine ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Young adult ,business ,education ,Demography - Abstract
Objective With increasing European cancer deaths, clinicians must manage information regarding poor prognosis. This study aimed to determine European citizens' preferences, within a scenario of serious illness such as cancer with less than a year to live, for information disclosure regarding poor prognosis, the likely symptoms and problems, and the care options available, to measure variations between countries and to identify factors associated with preferences. Methods A population-based cross-national telephone survey using random digit dialling in seven countries was conducted. Results Among 9344 respondents, data revealed an international preference (73.9%) to always be informed in the scenario of having a serious illness such as cancer with less than a year to live. This varied from 67.6% in Italy to 80.7% in Flanders. A minority (21.1%) did not want such information unless they ask, or at all. People younger than 70 years (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.62–0.83, p
- Published
- 2013
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