THE TAKE-HOME MESSAGE - DOCTORS VIEWS ON LETTERS AND TAPES AFTER A CANCER CONSULTATION

Background: Patients' understanding of their disease and treatment var ies in detail and accuracy In order to participate in decisions about their care patients must understand, evaluate and retain complex infor mation. Methods: We canvassed doctors' views about the use of individu alised letters and the use of audiotapes of the initial cancer consult ation to improve doctor-patient communication. The study sample consis ts of doctors whose patients participated in a trial of the latter tec hnique. Results: One hundred sixty of 194 doctors (82%) responded to a mailed questionnaire. Sixty-one percent of respondents felt that prov iding patients with a tape of their initial cancer consultation would be beneficial, and 71% felt that an individualised letter would be bet ter. General practitioners were more supportive of providing tape reco rdings to patients than were specialists (p = 0.057), but both groups favoured letters over tapes. Specialists were more concerned about the risks of providing tapes to patients than were general practitioners (p = 0.001), but only 13% of respondents felt that the risks were proh ibitive. Discussion: Wide support for providing individualised letters or tapes to patients, and copies to their doctors, indicate that the doctors surveyed believe that both doctor-patient and doctor-doctor co mmunication could be improved by the use of these techniques.