A SURVEY OF JAPANESE PHYSICIANS ATTITUDES AND PRACTICE IN CARING FOR TERMINALLY ILL CANCER-PATIENTS

To clarify the psychiatric liaison issues in cancer care, questionnair es were distributed to physicians at 31 teaching hospitals in Japan, i ncluding cancer centers and psychiatrists at 197 teaching hospitals. D ata from 329 physicians and 156 psychiatrists showed that the majority of the physicians felt troubled by the psychiatric problems of termin ally ill patients. However, actual psychiatric referrals were infreque nt. An important factor that interferes with appropriate psychiatric r eferrals for cancer patients is that most physicians do not usually in form patients of a cancer diagnosis. Thus, it seems that close communi cation between physicians and psychiatrists is essential in caring for terminally ill cancer patients in the context of Japanese culture, wh en the psychiatric consultations are offered.