Is doctors’ ability to identify cancer patients’ worry and wish for information related to doctors’ self‐efficacy with regard to communicating about difficult matters?

The aims were to investigate whether: (A) doctors’ ability to identify patients’ worry about prognosis/wish for information about disease and treatment is related to doctors’ self‐efficacy with regard to communicating about difficult matters and patients’ satisfaction with a consultation/hope to live a good life in spite of the disease; and (B) patients and doctors agree on how much worry/wish for information a patient experiences/wishes. Sixty‐nine patients with carcinoid and 11 doctors participated. Ability to identify worry/wish for information was estimated by posing questions to doctors/patients concerning how much worry/information a patient experienced/wished during a consultation. Doctors’ self‐efficacy was measured by nine questions, patients’ satisfaction and hope by two questions. When doctors show good ability to identify wish for information, they report higher self‐efficacy ( t  = 3.5, d.f. = 67, P  < 0.001) than when they show less good ability. Patients finding the consultation very satisfying meet doctors reporting higher self‐efficacy than patients finding the consultation satisfying ( t  = 2.26, d.f. = 65, P  < 0.05). Doctors fail to identify patients who report less worry/wish more information than the average patient. The findings underscore the importance of further enhancing doctors’ self‐efficacy with regard to communicating about difficult matters and ability to identify patients who are less worried/wish more information than the average patient.