[How to improve cancer patients' satisfaction with medical information]

The medical information becomes integrated into a communications strategy, the generally admitted model of which is centered on the patient; that is in the listening of these concerns and these values. The medical quality information is facilitated by the preliminary collection of the symptoms and the needs of the patients thanks to the questionnaires of quality of life, if they are used during the consultation to direct the discussion. Satisfactory medical information includes a discussion about the questions of the patients in terms of outcomes. Patient's individual factors can influence the need of medical information, as the age and the pathology. Patient's needs can also vary with time and according to the phase of the disease. Cultural factors are essential, in particular as regards the information about prognosis. Tools to help giving the medical information are now validated as the audio cassettes or video. Those tools can take the shape of a prompt list to help patients to ask questions. The majority preference of style of participation in the medical and therapeutic decisions and is the collaborative mode. Physician's attitude is determinant to leave the patients who wish it to have an active role, what allows them a very beneficial feeling psychologically of control over the disease. Decision-making helps are successfully sometimes elaborated to support the participation of the patients. In palliative phase, the need of medical information about prognosis associated with preservation of hope is not still understood by physicians who oscillate between saying the all or none. Honest information at the right time is the majority wish of the patients, although certain patients adopt clearly a strategy of avoidance. The medical communication requires a specific training on this subject. Talking time must be opened to the doctors to approach the relational problems which they meet. The clinical research has to continue to understand better the interactions in doctors/patients communication.