Preferences for notification of imaging results in patients with metastatic cancer.
Mary K Morreale, Tanina F Moore, Seongho Kim and 3 others
PMID 31466880WHAT IT FOUND
Most metastatic cancer patients wanted imaging results within 2 days, but many were told later.
Distress was generally low. Getting results from the preferred person was linked to less distress, and social isolation was linked to more distress.
Key findings
01Most participants wanted imaging results within 2 days, but most were notified 3 to 5 days later or after one week.
02Agreement between the preferred notifying person and the actual notifying person was associated with distress decreasing from imaging day to follow-up.
03Higher social isolation was associated with higher distress on the day of imaging.
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 done at a single cancer centre, so practices and notification options may differ elsewhere. Most participants were older and white, so it may not apply to younger patients or other racial or ethnic groups. It studied metastatic gastrointestinal and lung cancer, so it may not apply to non-metastatic cancer or other cancers. Patients had no access to patient portals, so preferences and distress may differ when online notification is available. Use of anti-anxiety medication was not controlled, which could have lowered reported distress before scans. Contact with research staff may itself have comforted patients and lowered distress. The study was observational and mostly looked at correlations, so it cannot show that matching preferences caused less distress. Some enrolled patients did not provide data at every time point.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The supplied metadata lists non-U.S. government research support, but the article text does not identify the funder.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that assigning a preferred notifier will reduce distress. This was an observational study of associations, not a test of that practice, and other preference matches were not associated with distress.