Helpfulness of Question Prompt Sheet for Patient-Physician Communication Among Patients With Advanced Cancer: A...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Palliative Care
• Health Communication

Background:

• Effective patient-physician communication is crucial for patients with advanced cancer.
• Robust evaluations of disease-specific question prompt sheets (QPS) in this population are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare patient perception of helpfulness, global evaluation, and preference for QPS versus a general information sheet (GIS).
• To examine the effect of QPS on patient anxiety, speaking time, number of questions asked, and clinical encounter length.

Main Methods:

• A controlled, double-blind randomized clinical trial was conducted at a US cancer center's outpatient palliative care clinic.
• 130 patients with cancer undergoing their first palliative care consultation were randomized to receive either QPS or GIS.
• Data analysis used a modified intention-to-treat design.

Main Results:

• Patients rated QPS and GIS as equally helpful (P=.79).
• The QPS group reported a more positive global view (P=.03) and felt more prompted to generate questions (P=.005) compared to the GIS group.
• No significant differences were found in patient anxiety, speaking time, number of questions asked, or consultation length between groups.

Conclusions:

• While equally helpful, patients preferred QPS over GIS.
• QPS facilitated question generation without negatively impacting patient anxiety or consultation duration.
• Findings support the integration of QPS into routine oncologic care to enhance patient-physician communication.