Information needs of recently diagnosed cancer patients in Brazil

The communication and disclosure of medical information to cancer patients has been an important issue in oncology, reflecting changes in the physicians' approach when dealing with the patients' ethical right to receive information. The aim of this study was to assess the general and specific information desired by cancer patients regarding their health conditions and to evaluate minor psychiatric symptoms.

Two-hundred and ninety-eight patients were examined at an oncological cancer center in São Paulo, Brazil, using a questionnaire designed to investigate patients' preferences about cancer information and evaluate minor psychiatric symptoms.

Ninety-five percent of the patients were interested in obtaining information on their health condition, with regard to whether they had cancer (95%), the chances of recovery (89%), and the side effects during treatment (94%). Younger patients tended to show more interest in obtaining information than the elderly. The Self-Reporting Questionnaire classified 25.8% of the sample as a probable psychiatric case, but no correlation was found between Self-Reporting Questionnaire scores and patients' desires for medical information.

The majority of patients wished to be informed about their illness condition, and no correlation was found between psychiatric morbidity and desire for information.