Measuring information strategies in oncology - developing an information satisfaction questionnaire

The benefits of providing accurate and culturally sensitive information for patients are now undisputable and information strategies are generally being adopted nationally. Measuring their benefits and adapting strategies to local needs is now a new challenge. Although questionnaires to measure global satisfaction are available, no concise tool has previously existed to specifically measure the information aspects of care. The aims of this study are: to establish which aspects of information were most important to the patients during their cancer pathway; to develop a robust single-page questionnaire that is sensitive to patient priorities to measure and compare satisfaction between patient groups; and to audit information provision within routine clinical practice. Seventy-seven consecutive patients were asked to complete a priority list of which aspects of information were most important to them during their recent cancer care. A total of 303 answers were categorized into five final categories of equal weighting. The data were combined with demographic issues to produce a robust one-page questionnaire which has been adopted formally by the West Anglia Cancer Network. One hundred consecutive patients were then audited to highlight the information shortcomings of a busy community oncology department and the findings are reforming information services. We recommend the use of this practical audit tool in routine clinical practice, which can be downloaded free from cancernet.co.uk in seven languages.