Conceptualizing prognostic awareness in advanced cancer: A systematic review

This systematic review synthesizes the complex literature on prognostic awareness in cancer. A total of 37 studies examining cancer patients’ understanding of their prognosis were included. Prognostic awareness definitions and assessment methods were inconsistent across studies. A surprisingly high...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health psychology 2014-09, Vol.19 (9), p.1103-1119
Main Authors: Applebaum, Allison J, Kolva, Elissa A, Kulikowski, Julia R, Jacobs, Jordana D, DeRosa, Antonio, Lichtenthal, Wendy G, Olden, Megan E, Rosenfeld, Barry, Breitbart, William
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Awareness - physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Cancer
Consciousness
Diseases
Health care
Humans
Medical sciences
Multiple tumors. Solid tumors. Tumors in childhood (general aspects)
Neoplasms - psychology
North America
Patients
Prognosis
Tumors
Validity
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Summary:This systematic review synthesizes the complex literature on prognostic awareness in cancer. A total of 37 studies examining cancer patients’ understanding of their prognosis were included. Prognostic awareness definitions and assessment methods were inconsistent across studies. A surprisingly high percentage of patients (up to 75%) were unaware of their poor prognosis, and in several studies, even their cancer diagnosis (up to 96%), particularly in studies conducted outside of North America. This review highlights surprisingly low rates of prognostic awareness in patients with advanced cancer as well as discrepancies in prognostic awareness assessment, suggesting the need for empirically validated measures of prognostic awareness.
ISSN:1359-1053
1461-7277
DOI:10.1177/1359105313484782