Patients ’ Preferences for Information during Chemotherapy

from healthcare professionals and their perceived information needs. Lloyd (2001) noted that doctors and patients exhibit a number of biases in risk perception and decision making, notably optimism bias – where a patient perceives a treatment as riskier for other people – and framing bias – 34% of people are alive five years later versus 66% of people are dead five years later. In addition, many patients have poor understanding and recall of risk information (Lloyd 2001), which has implications for healthcare professionals, patients and their families. Although Cox et al (2006) found most of their respondents had recalled conversations with health professionals about prognosis, there is a lack of evidence related to patient preference of prognostic information before chemotherapy. Chapman et al (2003) further suggested lay understanding of medical terms used in consultations was questionable requiring patient feedback to assess understanding. McPherson et al (2001) suggested that ongoing assessment of patients’ information needs was crucial in order to respond to changes in their information preferences. There are some variations in information provision, according to different hospital policies. The Christie uses a wide variety of information sources, including Macmillan booklets and leaflets, information from charities such as Breast Cancer Care, information from pharmaceutical companies and hospital-specific leaflets. However, all information is ratified by the patient information committee before use. THE INFORMATION needs of patients undergoing cancer treatment are integral to their quality of life (Mallinger et al 2005, Davies et al 2008, Vogel et al 2008, Waller et al 2014). Evidence suggests that this information should be targeted and based on individual need and changes at different time points (Luker et al 1996, Rutten et al 2005, Ankem 2006, Vogel et al 2008). However, there are several factors that influence patients’ perceptions of information Abstract