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Are women with breast cancer receiving sufficient education and information about their treatment?

Nature Clinical Practice Oncology volume 5, pages 62–63 (2008)Cite this article

Patients are increasingly being granted access to comprehensive information about their disease and its treatment, as well as greater involvement in the treatment decision-making process.1 Patients rely on and expect health-care professionals to provide them with relevant and clear information about their disease and its treatment. Recently published research has shown that patients with breast cancer view physicians as their most important source of information;2 however, physicians do not necessarily provide patients with the information they need to be able to make informed decisions or to understand what self-care measures are required for them to respond appropriately to treatment-related adverse effects.2

Patients often want to collaborate in treatment decision-making, but this desire is frequently not respected, as demonstrated in a Canadian study that found that most of the women with breast cancer expressed a desire to collaborate with their doctors in decision-making but that only 30–40% of patients actually achieved their preferred role—most were less involved than they wanted to be.3 The findings of a systematic review of the preferences of women with advanced cancer for involvement in decision-making were variable, but two-thirds of patients wanted to be involved in decision-making to some degree.4

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  1. Division of Nursing, Karolinska Institute, 23300, S-141 83 Huddinge, Sweden yvonne.wengstrom@ki.se

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Y Wengström is Head of Nursing in the Division of Nursing at the Karolinska Institute and Coordinator of Care Science Research at the Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden.,

    Yvonne Wengström

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  1. Yvonne Wengström
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Wengström, Y. Are women with breast cancer receiving sufficient education and information about their treatment?. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 5, 62–63 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncponc1020

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