Thyroid Cancer Risk Communication in Patients with Thyroid Nodules

Area of Science:

• Medical Communication
• Oncology
• Patient Education

Background:

• Effective communication of cancer risk is crucial for informed patient decisions.
• Thyroid nodules require clear risk assessment and communication to patients.
• Existing communication strategies may not fully optimize patient understanding.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate clinician-patient communication of thyroid cancer risk.
• To compare communication strategies between usual counseling and a conversation aid-enhanced group.
• To identify predictors of accurate cancer risk perception.

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of recorded clinical visits and surveys from a trial on thyroid nodule patients.
• Assessment of risk communication methods (verbal, numerical, framing) used by clinicians.
• Comparison of communication strategies between the conversation aid and usual care groups.

Main Results:

• Verbal risk descriptions were most frequent (83%), significantly higher in the conversation aid group (100% vs. 63%).
• Numerical risk descriptions (percentages) were more common with the aid (59% vs. 19%).
• Natural frequencies and framing were used infrequently; uncertainty was not discussed.

Conclusions:

• A conversation aid enhances clinician communication of thyroid cancer risk, particularly through verbal and numerical methods.
• Current communication practices for thyroid nodules may not address risk uncertainty.
• Clinicians should consider diverse communication strategies to improve patient understanding of thyroid cancer risk.