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Physician discussions with terminally ill patients: a cross-national comparison

Cartwright, Colleen ; Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Bregie D. ; Williams, Gail ; Faisst, Karin ; Mortier, Freddy ; Nilstun, Tore LU ; Norup, Michael ; van der Heide, Agnes and Miccinesi, Guido (2007) In Palliative Medicine 21(4). p.295-303
Abstract
A major issue in the care of terminally ill patients is communication and information provision. This paper reports the extent to which physicians in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland discuss topics relevant to end of life care with terminally ill patients and their relatives (without first informing the patient), and possible associations between physician-specific characteristics and such discussions. Response rates to the postal survey ranged from 39% to 68% (n = 10139). Physicians in most of the countries except Italy in principle, always' discuss issues related to terminal illness with their patients but not with patients' relatives without first informing the patient, unless the relatives... (More)
A major issue in the care of terminally ill patients is communication and information provision. This paper reports the extent to which physicians in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland discuss topics relevant to end of life care with terminally ill patients and their relatives (without first informing the patient), and possible associations between physician-specific characteristics and such discussions. Response rates to the postal survey ranged from 39% to 68% (n = 10139). Physicians in most of the countries except Italy in principle, always' discuss issues related to terminal illness with their patients but not with patients' relatives without first informing the patient, unless the relatives ask. Cross-national differences remained strong after controlling for physician characteristics. The majority of physicians appeared to support the principle of patient-centred care to terminally ill patients, consistent with palliative care philosophy and with the law and/or professional guidelines in most of the countries studied. (Less)
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; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
physician-patient communication, terminal illness, Europe, EURELD, end-of-life care, Australia, cross-national practices
in
Palliative Medicine
volume
21
issue
4
pages
295 - 303
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • wos:000248434400006
  • scopus:34447634722
ISSN
1477-030X
DOI
10.1177/0269216307079063
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e13fd85d-c476-401f-94f8-7d0505c87c33 (old id 691385)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:43:24
date last changed
2022-03-15 02:28:15
@article{e13fd85d-c476-401f-94f8-7d0505c87c33,
  abstract     = {{A major issue in the care of terminally ill patients is communication and information provision. This paper reports the extent to which physicians in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland discuss topics relevant to end of life care with terminally ill patients and their relatives (without first informing the patient), and possible associations between physician-specific characteristics and such discussions. Response rates to the postal survey ranged from 39% to 68% (n = 10139). Physicians in most of the countries except Italy in principle, always' discuss issues related to terminal illness with their patients but not with patients' relatives without first informing the patient, unless the relatives ask. Cross-national differences remained strong after controlling for physician characteristics. The majority of physicians appeared to support the principle of patient-centred care to terminally ill patients, consistent with palliative care philosophy and with the law and/or professional guidelines in most of the countries studied.}},
  author       = {{Cartwright, Colleen and Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Bregie D. and Williams, Gail and Faisst, Karin and Mortier, Freddy and Nilstun, Tore and Norup, Michael and van der Heide, Agnes and Miccinesi, Guido}},
  issn         = {{1477-030X}},
  keywords     = {{physician-patient communication; terminal illness; Europe; EURELD; end-of-life care; Australia; cross-national practices}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{295--303}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Palliative Medicine}},
  title        = {{Physician discussions with terminally ill patients: a cross-national comparison}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269216307079063}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/0269216307079063}},
  volume       = {{21}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}