ArticleJournal of palliative medicine2014
Physicians' propensity to discuss prognosis is associated with patients' awareness of prognosis for metastatic cancers.
Article in Journal of palliative medicine, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 2 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Timing of prognostic discussions in people with advanced cancer: a systematic review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Pooled it
- The Effect of Prognostic Communication on Patient Outcomes in Palliative Cancer Care: a Systematic Review.Current treatment options in oncology · 2020Pooled it
- The Effect of Disclosing Life Expectancy Information on Patients' Prognostic Understanding: Secondary Outcomes From a Multicenter Randomized Trial of a Palliative Chemotherapy Educational Intervention.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2021Trial
- A randomized trial of a multi-level intervention to improve advance care planning and symptom management among low-income and minority employees diagnosed with cancer in outpatient community settings.Contemporary clinical trials · 2020Trial
- Promoting End-of-Life Discussions in Advanced Cancer: Effects of Patient Coaching and Question Prompt Lists.Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2017Trial
- Trial
- Facilitating advance care planning in oncology: study protocol for the evaluation of a tailored implementation of an advance care planning tool (the INDEED study).BMC palliative care · 2026Article
- Cancer patients' awareness of extent of disease: anxiety, depression, quality of life.BMJ supportive & palliative care · 2025Article
- Article
- Shared decision-making needs, barriers, and facilitators of patients with newly diagnosed advanced cancer in the hospital: a multi-level, mixed-methods study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2024Article
- A qualitative evaluation of factors influencing Tumor Treating fields (TTFields) therapy decision making among brain tumor patients and physicians.BMC cancer · 2024Article
- Clinicians' and Advanced Cancer Patients' Estimates of Treatment Efficacy and Toxicity in Oncologic Treatment.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Prevalence and Predictors of Physician-Patient Discordance in Prognostic Perceptions in Advanced Cancer.The oncologist · 2023Article
- Patient-Caregiver Dyads' Prognostic Information Preferences and Perceptions in Advanced Cancer.Journal of pain and symptom management · 2023Article
- Perception of prognosis and health-related quality of life in patients with advanced cancer: results of a multicentre observational study (eQuiPe).Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2023Observational
- Awareness of Disease Status Among Patients With Cancer: An Integrative Review.Cancer nursing · 2023Article
- Accuracy of curability expectations in patients with gastrointestinal cancers.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- Characteristics of patients with advanced cancer preferring not to know prognosis: a multicenter survey study.BMC cancer · 2022Article
- Association between prognostic awareness and quality of life in patients with advanced cancer.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2022Article
- Prognostic disclosure in oncology - current communication models: a scoping review.BMJ supportive & palliative care · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrognosis discussion is an essential component of informed decision-making. However, many terminally ill patients have a limited awareness of their prognosis and the causes are unclear.
objectiveTo explore the impact of physicians' propensity to discuss prognosis on advanced cancer patients' prognosis awareness.
designCancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium (CanCORS) study, a prospective cohort study with patient and physician surveys. SETTING/SUBJECTS: We investigated 686 patients with metastatic lung or colorectal cancer at diagnosis who participated in the CanCORS study and reported about their life expectancy. Data were linked to the physician survey from 486 physicians who were identified by these patients as filling important roles in their cancer care.
resultsFew patients with metastatic cancers (16.5%) reported an accurate awareness of their prognosis, defined as reporting a life expectancy of less than 2 years for lung cancer or less than 5 years for colorectal cancer. Patients whose most-important-doctor (in helping patient make decisions) reported discussing prognosis with terminally ill patients earlier were more likely than those whose doctors deferred these discussions to have an accurate prognosis awareness (adjusted proportion, 18.5% versus 7.6%; odds ratio, 3.23; 95% confidence interval, 1.39-7.52; p=0.006).
conclusionsFew patients with advanced cancer could articulate an accurate prognosis estimate, despite most having received chemotherapy and many physicians reported they would discuss prognosis early. Physicians' propensity to discuss prognosis earlier was associated with more accurate patient reports of prognosis. Enhancing the communication skills of providers with important roles in cancer care may help to improve cancer patients' understanding of their prognosis.
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.