Are we there yet? The state of the evidence base for guidelines on breaking bad news to cancer patients

European Journal of Cancer

Volumn 45, Issue 17, 2009, Pages 2960-2966

  Paul, C L ^a   Clinton McHarg, T ^a   Sanson Fisher, R W ^a   Douglas, H ^a   Webb, G ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NEWCASTLE   (Australia)

Author keywords

Bad news; Cancer; Communication; Psychosocial outcomes; Research output

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; CANCER PATIENT; EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE; HEALTH CARE PERSONNEL; HUMAN; MEDICAL ETHICS; PATIENT INFORMATION; PRACTICE GUIDELINE; PRIORITY JOURNAL; PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL BEING; PSYCHOSOCIAL CARE; STAFF TRAINING;

EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE; HUMANS; NEOPLASMS; PHYSICIAN-PATIENT RELATIONS; PRACTICE GUIDELINES AS TOPIC; RESEARCH DESIGN; TRUTH DISCLOSURE;

EID: 70350576875     PISSN: 09598049     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2009.08.013     Document Type: Article

References (30)

1. Evidence-Based Medicine Working Group. Evidence-based medicine: a new approach to teaching the practice of medicine. JAMA 1992;268:2420-5.
2. US Preventive Services Task Force. Guide to clinical preventive services. 2nd ed. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins; 1996.
3. Sanson-Fisher R., and Campbell E. Health research in Australia: its role in achieving the goals and targets. Health Promot J Austr 4 (1994) 28-33
4. Shakeshaft A., Bowman J., and Sanson-Fisher R. Behavioural alcohol research: new directions or more of the same?. Addiction 92 (1997) 1411-1422
5. Girgis A., and Sanson-Fisher R.W. Breaking bad news 1: current best advice for clinicians. Behav Med 24 (1998) 53
6. Zuger A. How do doctors break bad news? The International Herald Tribune 2006 Wed, January 11.
7. Schmid Mast M., Kindlimann A., and Langewitz W. Recipients' perspective on breaking bad news: how you put it really makes a difference. Patient Educ Couns 58 (2005) 244-251
8. Amiel G., Ungar L., Alperin M., et al. Ability of primary care physicians to break bad news: a performance based assessment of an educational intervention. Patient Educ Couns 60 (2006) 10-15
9. Dosanjh S., Barnes J., and Bhandari M. Barriers to breaking bad news among medical and surgical residents. Med Educ 35 (2001) 197-205
10. Baile W., Buckman R., Lenzi R., et al. SPIKES: a six-step protocol for delivering bad news: application to the patient from cancer. Oncologist 5 (2000) 302-311
11. Walsh R., Girgis A., and Sanson-Fisher R. Breaking bad news 2: what evidence is available to guide clinicians?. Behav Med 24 (1998) 61-73
12. Ramirez A., Graham J., Richards M., et al. Burnout and psychiatric disorders among cancer clinicians. Br J Cancer 71 (1995) 1263-1269
13. Lamont E, Christakis N. Prognostic disclosure to patients with cancer near the end of life. Ann Intern Med 2001;2001.
14. Lobb E., Butow P., Kenny D., and Tattersall M. Communicating prognosis in early breast cancer: do women understand the language used?. Med J Aust 171 (1999) 290-924
15. VandeKieft G. Breaking bad news. Am Fam Physician 64 (2001) 1975-1978
16. Buckman R. How to break bad news: a guide for health care professionals (1992), The John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
17. Girgis A., and Sanson-Fisher R. Breaking bad news: consensus guidelines for medical practitioners. J Clin Oncol 13 (1995) 2449-2456
18. Sanson-Fisher R.W., Campbell E.M., Htun A.T., Bailey L.J., and Millar C.J. We are what we do: research outputs of public health. Am J Prev Med 35 (2008) 380-385
19. Moore P, Wilkinson S, Rivera Mercado S. Communication skills training for health care professionals working with cancer patients, their families and/or carers. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2004;(2): Art. No. CD003751. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003751.pub2.
20. Garg A., Buckman R., and Kason Y. Teaching medical students how to break bad news. Can Med Assoc J 156 (1997) 1159-1164
21. Cochrane Effective Practice and Organisation of Care Group. Data collection checklist, 1999.
22. McPherson C., Higginson I., and Hearn J. Effective methods of giving information in cancer: a systematic literature review of randomized controlled trials. J Public Health Med 23 (2001) 227-234
23. Delvaux N., Razavi D., Marchal S., et al. Effects of a 105 hours psychological training program on attitudes, communication skills and occupational stress in oncology: a randomised study. Br J Cancer 90 (2004) 106-114
24. Lienard A., Merckaert I., Libert Y., et al. Factors that influence cancer patients' anxiety following a medical consultation: impact of a communication skills training programme for physicians. Ann Oncol 17 (2006) 1450-1458
25. Merckaert I., Libert Y., Delvaux N., et al. Factors that influence physicians' detection of distress in patients with cancer: can a communication skills training program improve physicians' detection?. Cancer 104 (2005) 411-421
26. Razavi D., Delvaux N., Marchal S., et al. Does training increase the use of more emotionally laden words by nurses when talking with cancer patients? A randomised study. Br J Cancer 87 (2002) 1-7
27. Razavi D., Merckaert I., Marchal S., et al. How to optimize physicians' communication skills in cancer care: results of a randomised study assessing the usefulness of posttraining consolidation workshops. J Clin Oncol 21 (2003) 3141-3149
28. Roter D., Hall J., Kern D., et al. Improving physicians' interviewing skills and reducing patients' emotional distress: a randomized clinical trial. Arch Intern Med 155 (1995) 1877-1884
29. Betz Brown J., Boles M., Mullooly J., and Levinson W. Effect of clinician communication skills training on patient satisfaction: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med 131 (1999) 822-829
30. Easterbrook P.J., Berlin J.A., Gopalan R., and Matthews D.R. Publication bias in clinical research. Lancet 337 (1991) 867-872