The impact of diagnosis on cervical and endometrial cancer patients and their spouses

How information on diagnosis of endometrial and cervical cancer was given and its impact on women (n = 60) and their spouses (n = 47) were investigated by semistructured interviews and check-lists of psychological symptoms. In most cases the first information on diagnosis was given to the woman by telephone. Half of the women with endometrial cancer and four with cervical cancer solely obtained information by telephone. The least dissatisfied patients were those who received information on diagnosis by phone and simultaneously were offered a personal visit at their earliest convenience. Almost all spouses were given the news of the diagnosis exclusively by their ill partner. This way of being informed provoked anger and bitterness among the spouses. At initiation of treatment most women (93%) and men (81%) were classified as being in a psychological crisis, and a lack of coincidence concerning the different phases of crisis was observed in half of the couples. The study emphasizes the importance of directing attention both to the needs of patients/partners and to the needs of physicians when communicating a diagnosis of cancer.