Trial reportAnnals of internal medicine2011
Enhancing communication between oncologists and patients with a computer-based training program: a randomized trial.
Trial report in Annals of internal medicine, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 131 papers, 16 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Enhancing Patient-Oncologist Communication
Giving Information Systematically and Transparently in Lung and GI Cancer
Giving Information Systematically and Transparently in Lung and GI Cancer Phase 2
Who cites it
131 citing papers in PubMed, 16 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 256 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effectiveness of Balint groups at improving empathy in medical and nursing education: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.BMC medical education · 2024Pooled it
- Applying terror management theory to patients with life-threatening illness: a systematic review.BMC palliative care · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Interventions for interpersonal communication about end of life care between health practitioners and affected people.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The Effectiveness of mHealth and eHealth Tools in Improving Provider Knowledge, Confidence, and Behaviors Related to Cancer Detection, Treatment, and Survivorship Care: a Systematic Review.Journal of cancer education : the official journal of the American Association for Cancer Education · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Medical Doctors' Offline Computer-Assisted Digital Education: Systematic Review by the Digital Health Education Collaboration.Journal of medical Internet research · 2019Pooled it
- Curricula for empathy and compassion training in medical education: A systematic review.PloS one · 2019Pooled it
- Advancing the field of communication research in pediatric oncology: A systematic review of the literature analyzing medical dialogue.Pediatric blood & cancer · 2018Pooled it
- Communication skills training for healthcare professionals working with people who have cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Interventions to cultivate physician empathy: a systematic review.BMC medical education · 2014Pooled it
- Interventions for improving patients' trust in doctors and groups of doctors.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- A systematic review of communication quality improvement interventions for patients with advanced and serious illness.Journal of general internal medicine · 2013Pooled it
- Communication skills training for healthcare professionals working with people who have cancer.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2013Pooled it
- The Effect of a Surgeon Communication Strategy on Treatment Preference for Thyroid Cancer: A Randomized Trial.Medical decision making : an international journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making · 2025Trial
- An Intervention to Increase Advance Care Planning Among Older Adults With Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2025Trial
- Effect of Perspective-Taking on Trust Between Doctors and Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings · 2023Trial
- Trial
71 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundQuality cancer care requires addressing patients' emotions, which oncologists infrequently do. Multiday courses can teach oncologists skills to handle emotion; however, such workshops are long and costly.
objectiveTo test whether a brief, computerized intervention improves oncologist responses to patient expressions of negative emotion.
designRandomized, controlled, parallel-group trial stratified by site, sex, and oncologic specialty. Oncologists were randomly assigned to receive a communication lecture or the lecture plus a tailored CD-ROM. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration number: NCT00276627)
settingOncology clinics at a comprehensive cancer center and Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, and a comprehensive cancer center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
participants48 medical, gynecologic, and radiation oncologists and 264 patients with advanced cancer.
interventionOncologists were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive an interactive CD-ROM about responding to patients' negative emotions. The CD-ROM included tailored feedback on the oncologists' own recorded conversations. MEASUREMENTS: Postintervention audio recordings were used to identify the number of empathic statements and responses to patients' expressions of negative emotion. Surveys evaluated patients' trust in their oncologists and perceptions of their oncologists' communication skills.
resultsOncologists in the intervention group used more empathic statements (relative risk, 1.9 [95% CI, 1.1 to 3.3]; P = 0.024) and were more likely to respond to negative emotions empathically (odds ratio, 2.1 [CI, 1.1 to 4.2]; P = 0.028) than control oncologists. Patients of intervention oncologists reported greater trust in their oncologists than did patients of control oncologists (estimated mean difference, 0.1 [CI, 0.0 to 0.2]; P = 0.036). There was no significant difference in perceptions of communication skills. LIMITATIONS: Long-term effects were not examined. The findings may not be generalizable outside of academic medical centers.
conclusionA brief computerized intervention improves how oncologists respond to patients' expressions of negative emotions. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Cancer Institute.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.