Testing the utility of a cancer clinical trial specific Question Prompt List (QPL-CT) during oncology consultations.

Posted: Jan 17, 2013
Patient Educ Couns. 88. 2. 311-7.
KEYWORDS: Knowledge/Attitudes/Beliefs, Provider-Patient Relationship, Cancer

Highlights

The QPL-CT may be a useful tool to aid patients in initiating conversations about realistic study expectations and to aid overall physician-patient communication.

Why this item may be useful

A QPL is a proven intervention to aid patients to be active participants in consultations with their physicians by asking questions. This study tested the efficacy of a targeted QPL for clinical trials. It provides a list of the 33 questions and analyzed the results by distinguishing the questions that participants wanted to ask and asked; participants wanted to ask and did not ask; participants did not want to ask and did ask; and participants did not want to ask and did not ask. Oncologists could make a point of endorsing all questions and emphasizing that patients should not be embarrassed to ask them.

Details

  • Most study participants had a high need for information and preferred participatory decision-making.
  • The questions participants most wanted to ask from the QPL-CT were about personal benefit from the trial and the possibility of side effects. More than half of the participants did ask their oncologists questions on these topics. Participants who did not ask these questions may not have because their oncologists already had discussed the issues.
  • Patients often did not ask questions about financial hardships and additional burdens even though oncologists did not provide this information.