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“What concerns me is…” Expression of emotion by advanced cancer patients during outpatient visits

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Abstract

Objective

Cancer patients have high levels of distress, yet oncologists often do not recognize patients’ concerns. We sought to describe how patients with advanced cancer verbally express negative emotion to their oncologists.

Materials and methods

As part of the Studying Communication in Oncologist–Patient Encounters Trial, we audio-recorded 415 visits that 281 patients with advanced cancer made to their oncologists at three US cancer centers. Using qualitative methodology, we coded for verbal expressions of negative emotion, identified words patients used to express emotion, and categorized emotions by type and content.

Results

Patients verbally expressed negative emotion in 17% of the visits. The most commonly used words were: “concern,” “scared,” “worried,” “depressed,” and “nervous.” Types of emotion expressed were: anxiety (46%), fear (25%), depression (12%), anger (9%), and other (8%). Topics about which emotion was expressed were: symptoms and functional concerns (66%), medical diagnoses and treatments (54%), social issues (14%), and the health care system (9%). Although all patients had terminal cancer, they expressed negative emotion overtly related to death and dying only 2% of the time.

Conclusions

Patients infrequently expressed negative emotion to their oncologists. When they did, they typically expressed anxiety and fear, indicating concern about the future. When patients use emotionally expressive words such as those we described, oncologists should respond empathically, allowing patients to express their distress and concerns more fully.

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Correspondence to Wendy G. Anderson.

Additional information

Funding: The National Cancer Institute, R01CA100387, supported the SCOPE project. The Open Society Institute and the Senator H. John Heinz III Fellowship in Palliative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute to Enhance Palliative Care funded Dr. Anderson’s salary.

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Anderson, W.G., Alexander, S.C., Rodriguez, K.L. et al. “What concerns me is…” Expression of emotion by advanced cancer patients during outpatient visits. Support Care Cancer 16, 803–811 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-007-0350-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-007-0350-8

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