Cancer Research in Switzerland - Krebsliga Schweiz

of this study to ameliorate communication between
health professionals and patients in the field of prostate
cancer.
Methods
With this purpose in mind, we tried to incorporate both
the view of patients and the professionals into the design
of one study. Patients answered a questionnaire developed
by an international research team and consisting of
92 questions about prostate cancer and its treatment. Additionally,
health professionals (urologists, oncologists,
general practitioners, nurses, etc.) rated the same questions
with regard to their importance for patients. The
final sample of the study consisted of 128 patients and
208 professionals from five clinics in the German-speaking
part of Switzerland.
Results
Patients varied greatly with regard to their judgements of
prostate cancer topics. Overall, they considered around
half of the almost 100 provided topics as essential for appropriate
information. However, some patients considered
only a few questions as essential, whereas others
rated almost all of the topics essential. Moreover, participating
patients agreed only moderately on specific topics.
This heterogeneity of ratings about what is important to
know about prostate cancer is not only a patient phenomenon.
On the contrary, even the health professionals varied
greatly in judging what might be of significance for patients.
Conclusions and suggestions
Information needs with regard to treatment decisions of
men with curable prostate cancer are broad but very individual,
too. It seems hardly possible to reduce information
about this disease to a core set of topics that could then
be used to print a small booklet. This would still result in a
substantial number of men with information needs not
sufficiently covered. The results of this study emphasize
the function of dialogue between doctor/professional and
patient in transferring information on a highly individual
level. However, counselling of prostate cancer patients
should not be controlled (only) by some standardized
guidelines but should overall consider the patients’ needs.