Shared decision making for ovarian cancer survivors with different levels of health literacy: a qualitative interview study on knowledge and comprehension
Management of ovarian cancer is best when the patient and the carer can share decision making. For this to occur both parties need to be fully informed and able to understand the process.
This shared decision making involves choice of therapy and detection of recurrence. A small retrospective study shows that many women have a limited understanding of medical terms and jargon, making decisions difficult.
A group of 17 women with ovarian cancer were asked about their understanding of the care they had received. They also answered a questionnaire aiming to determine their basic medical knowledge and confidence about sharing decisions.
Results from the study showed limited understanding about the course of their illness with false confidence in physical examination as a means of detecting recurrence. In general, there is a low level of medical literacy which makes shared decisions difficult.
No comments:
Post a Comment