Bruera, E and Sweeney, C and Willey, J and Palmer, JL and Tolley, S and Rosales, M and Ripamonti, C;

2003

Journal Of Pain And Symptom Management

Breast cancer patient perception of the helpfulness of a prompt sheet versus a general information sheet during outpatient consultation: A randomized, controlled trial

Validated

Altmetric: 1 ()

25

5

412

419

The purpose of this study was to determine the helpfulness of a prompt sheet versus a general information sheet for patient communication with physicians. Sixty women with breast cancer attending their first outpatient consultation with a breast medical oncologist were randomized to receive either a prompt sheet (PS) or a general information (GI) sheet regarding breast cancer. Analysis of the results found that helpfulness of the written material was rated higher in the PS group (8.5 +/- 2) than the GI group (6 2 +/- 3.6), P=0.005. The mean score of helpfulness in communicating with physicians was 7.9 +/- 2.4 and 5.7 +/- 3.8, respectively, P 0.01. There were no significant differences between the groups in the average total number of questions asked by the patients or average physician or patient speaking time. We conclude that a disease-specific prompt sheet provided before medical encounters may assist in communication between patients and physicians. (C) 2003 U.S. Cancer Pain Relief Committee. Published by Elsevier. All rights reserved.

10.1016/S0885-3924(02)00686-3