Chinese oncologists' knowledge, attitudes and practice towards palliative care and end of life issues

Oncologists` knowledge and attitudes to palliative care (PC) and end of life (EOF) should be highlighted in order to give them effective education. This study is intended to provide a descriptive analysis of oncologists' knowledge, attitudes and practice toward PC and EOF issues in Mainland China.

The questionnaire survey with 24 items investigating oncologists' demographic information, knowledge and attitudes toward PC and EOF issues was conducted among Chinese Oncology clinicians.

The participants had a mean of 10.10 years practice in oncology. 43 (31.2%) participants had received PC education. 73.9% of the participants believed that PC should be considered when patients were not suitable to take surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and other anti-cancer therapies. 72.5% of the participants believed that early PC integration can improve the quality of life in patients. Most of the oncology clinicians (73.9%) believed that the doctor-in-charge was the appropriate person to inform patients of the diagnosis. However, only 11 participants chose to inform the diagnosis and disease prognosis to the patients, whereas 39.9% of the participants chose to disclose it to Family/Caregivers first. Besides, Chinese oncologists were obviously unfamiliar with the concepts of euthanasia and related issues.

This study indicated the insufficient knowledge toward PC and related issues of the Chinese oncologists. More attention should be paid on the education of PC among Oncologists in Mainland China.