STRATEGIES OF INFORMATION DISCLOSURE TO CHINESE CANCER-PATIENTS IN ANASIAN COMMUNITY

There is little information available on strategies of information dis closure used by doctors in the care of patents with cancer. This repor t focuses on the style of disclosure used by doctors when giving diagn ostic and prognostic information to patients with cancer. Among 46% of 133 surgeons and radiotherapists interviewed, disclosure of diagnosis involved a sudden approach (information given outright at one sitting ). Less commonly used (19%) was a gradual disclosure style. of the rem ainder who disclosed, more than half did so through the family or left it to the family to tell the patient. Doctors' speciality and patient s' requests for prognostic information dictated disclosure style most frequently. Single people were more likely to have information disclos ed to their families than were married people. While anecdotal account s indicate negative reactions on the part of patients area major reaso n for withholding such information, different disclosure Style had lit tle effect on doctors' reports of patient reactions to the bad news. D octors perceived 25% of patients appeared to react 'with depression' b ut the remaining 75% appeared 'calm'. These results suggest patients a re more likely to be told bad news suddenly, and that doctors do not p erceive that this impacts too negatively on patients. The high levels of reported preference for information about cancer in Hong Kong (Fiel ding and Hung, 1996) conflict with actual prevalence patterns. It seem s that commonly cited anecdotal reasons for withholding information fr om cancer patients in Hong Kong are not sustained by the data produced in these studies. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.