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Why many oncologists fail to share accurate prognoses: They care deeply for their patients
Author(s) -
Abernethy Eli Rowe,
Campbell Gavin Paul,
Pentz Rebecca D.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.32635
Subject(s) - medicine , optimism , intensive care medicine , simple (philosophy) , medline , medical physics , political science , law , psychology , social psychology , philosophy , epistemology
Although most patients with cancer wish to know their prognosis, oncologists often fail to initiate timely and repeated discussions of prognosis with their patients. This gap, rooted in physicians' deep care and optimism for their patients, may be narrowed by 3 complementary approaches: asking simple questions to open up the discussion, assessing patient preferences, and using prognostic tools that can help with the accuracy of prognoses.