Open AccessOlder adults may not consider life expectancy an important factor in cancer screening
Author(s) -
Chung Clement
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
ca: a cancer journal for clinicians
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 62.937
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1542-4863
pISSN - 0007-9235
DOI - 10.3322/caac.21414
Subject(s) - life expectancy , affect (linguistics) , context (archaeology) , preference , cancer screening , cancer , gerontology , expectancy theory , psychology , medicine , social psychology , environmental health , population , paleontology , communication , economics , biology , microeconomics
Key Points Although many elderly individuals considered their age and health status to be relevant in making decisions regarding cancer screening, they often did not understand the role of life expectancy. It is important for providers to incorporate patient preference into communication strategies regarding cancer screening. In the context of good physician‐patient relationships, discussions regarding discontinuing cancer screening generally do not negatively affect older adults' views of their physicians.