C. Zimmermann et al., Framing of outcome and probability of recurrence: Breast cancer patients' choice of adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) in hypothetical patient scenarios, BREAST CANC, 60(1), 2000, pp. 9-14
Purpose. To examine the effects of framing of outcome and probabilities of
cancer occurrence on the treatment preference which breast cancer patients
indicate for hypothetical patient scenarios.
Methods. A modified version of the Decision Board Instrument (Levine et al.
1992) was administered to 35 breast cancer patients with past ACT experien
ce. Patients expressed their choice regarding ACT for six scenarios which w
ere characterized by either negative or positive framing of outcome and by
one of the three levels of probability of recurrence (high, medium, low).
Results. The framing had no influence on ACT choices over all three probabi
lity levels. The majority chose ACT for high and medium risk and one third
switched from ACT to No ACT in the low-risk condition. This switch was stat
istically significant.
Conclusion. Hypothetical treatment decisions against ACT occur only when th
e probability of recurrence is low and the benefit of ACT is small. This fi
nding for patients with past experience of ACT is similar to those reported
for other oncological patient groups still in treatment.