Managing uncertainty and responding to difficult emotions: Cancer patients' perspectives on clinician response during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Richard L Street, Katherine Treiman, Qiwei Wu and 4 others
PMID 35393231WHAT IT FOUND
Cancer patients who felt their clinicians helped with uncertainty and emotions reported better mental health, physical health, coping, and less distress.
The study could not show that communication caused these outcomes.
Key findings
01Patients who rated their clinicians as more responsive to uncertainty and emotions reported better mental health.
02The same clinician responsiveness was also associated with better physical health, better coping, and lower psychological distress.
03Patients with more telehealth sessions reported poorer coping and more psychological distress, but the study did not measure total visit number, so this cannot be read as telehealth causing distress.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it could not show that clinician responsiveness caused better health or coping. All outcomes were self-reported by patients, and patients with better coping, self-efficacy, or support may also have rated clinicians more positively. The sample was recruited through cancer support groups and a consumer panel, and was mostly non-Hispanic White, female, and college-educated, so it may not represent all cancer patients. The study measured number of telehealth sessions but not total cancer care visits, so the telehealth association could reflect sicker or more distressed patients needing more visits. Only two patient-centered communication domains were examined, so it does not compare these with information exchange, decision making, or relationship building.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that clinician communication improves cancer patients' health. The study was cross-sectional and self-reported, so patients who were already coping better or had more support may have rated their clinicians more positively.