Patients' understanding of oncology clinical endpoints: A literature review.
Vanessa Boudewyns, Brian G Southwell, Jessica T DeFrank and 4 others
PMID 32273145WHAT IT FOUND
Most cancer patients do not hear terms like progression-free survival from their doctors, and those who do often misunderstand them.
Many believe non-curative treatments will cure their cancer. Clinicians should check patient understanding of treatment goals rather than assuming technical terms are clear.
Key findings
01Fewer than 5% of patients remembered oncologists using phrases like 'progression-free survival' during consultations.
02A sizeable minority of patients with incurable cancers believed their treatment was intended to cure their cancer.
03In one study, 57% of patients had no idea what 'progression-free survival' meant, and only 11% correctly thought it involved extending life.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The review included only 13 publications, which is a very small evidence base. Five of the included studies were conference abstracts, which provide less detail than full articles. The authors did not conduct a formal quality assessment of the included studies. Most evidence focused on progression-free survival, leaving gaps in understanding for other endpoints.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that patients simply need better definitions of clinical endpoints. The primary issue is that patients often misunderstand the fundamental goal of their treatment, believing non-curative therapies are curative, regardless of the specific endpoint terminology used.