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Are patients getting the “gist” in risk communication? Patient understanding of prognosis in breast cancer treatment

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Abstract

Background. Many oncologists consult the Adjuvant! prognostic model to communicate risk with breast cancer patients; however, little is known about how effective that communication is. Methods. The authors analyzed this small data set featuring 20 breast cancer patients’ risk estimates, focusing on rankings or gist of the estimates. Results. Overall, there was no gain in the accuracy of patient rankings. The number of patients with more accurate estimates was matched by the number of patients with less accurate estimates after consultation, Conclusions. The current methods used by oncologists to present Adjuvant! risks were not effective in helping patients to get the gist of their risks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, CA

    David W. Hutton MS & Ross D. Shachter PhD

  2. University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

    Jeffrey K. Belkora PhD & Dan H. Moore PhD

Authors
  1. David W. Hutton MS
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  2. Jeffrey K. Belkora PhD
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  3. Ross D. Shachter PhD
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  4. Dan H. Moore PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David W. Hutton MS.

Additional information

The primary study was funded by the Department of Defense, grant DAMD17-96-1-6260. Funding sources for this secondary analysis included the Department of Defense, DAMD17-96-1-6260, as well the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (Grant 9K12HD052163-06). None of the funders had any involvement in the design, conduct, or reporting of this research.

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Hutton, D.W., Belkora, J.K., Shachter, R.D. et al. Are patients getting the “gist” in risk communication? Patient understanding of prognosis in breast cancer treatment. J Canc Educ 24, 194–199 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1080/08858190902876452

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