The Greek Cancer Patient's Knowledge and Attitudes toward His Diagnosis and Prognosis

One hundred and sixteen cancer patients were interviewed in order to investigate whether the Greek cancer patient wants to be informed and whether he knows his true diagnosis and prognosis of his illness. A semistructured interview was used and also a number of psychological parameters were assessed...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychotherapy and psychosomatics 1988-01, Vol.49 (3/4), p.171-178
Main Authors: Lavrentiadis, G., Manos, N., Christakis, J., Semoglou, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
General aspects
Medical sciences
Tumors
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Summary:One hundred and sixteen cancer patients were interviewed in order to investigate whether the Greek cancer patient wants to be informed and whether he knows his true diagnosis and prognosis of his illness. A semistructured interview was used and also a number of psychological parameters were assessed. Though only 15.5% of the patients named their real diagnosis, according to the interviewer's assessment 53% were strongly suspicious of their real diagnosis and 55% suspected their real prognosis. Furthermore, 49% when asked directly answered that they wanted to know if they had cancer and 49% disagreed with the policy of withholding the truth from the patient. The policy of telling or not telling the truth to the cancer patient in Greece is discussed in comparison with policies and attitudes in other countries.
ISSN:0033-3190
1423-0348
DOI:10.1159/000288081