Most cancer patients like full access to records
Posted 05-24-2011 at 02:17 PM by admin
By Genevra Pittman
NEW YORK | Mon May 23, 2011 6:43pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cancer patients who were given full access to their medical records at the beginning of treatment said the records helped them understand and discuss their disease with others, and they weren't any more anxious than other patients in a new study from France.
While there has been a trend toward increasing patients' access to their own medical information, some doctors fear that giving full records to patients will increase their anxiety, the authors note in the journal Cancer.
But Dave deBronkart, a prominent blogger on patient involvement since his own recovery from advanced kidney cancer, argues that full access is helpful.
deBronkart, who blogs as "e-patient Dave," told Reuters Health by email, "Detailed information on the disease is important for the patient to make informed decisions. It also allows the patient and family to cope better."
Participants in the new study included about 300 patients who had been recently diagnosed with breast cancer, colon cancer, and lymphoma, and were beginning treatment with chemotherapy.
Read the rest of the article here.
© Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters
NEW YORK | Mon May 23, 2011 6:43pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Cancer patients who were given full access to their medical records at the beginning of treatment said the records helped them understand and discuss their disease with others, and they weren't any more anxious than other patients in a new study from France.
While there has been a trend toward increasing patients' access to their own medical information, some doctors fear that giving full records to patients will increase their anxiety, the authors note in the journal Cancer.
But Dave deBronkart, a prominent blogger on patient involvement since his own recovery from advanced kidney cancer, argues that full access is helpful.
deBronkart, who blogs as "e-patient Dave," told Reuters Health by email, "Detailed information on the disease is important for the patient to make informed decisions. It also allows the patient and family to cope better."
Participants in the new study included about 300 patients who had been recently diagnosed with breast cancer, colon cancer, and lymphoma, and were beginning treatment with chemotherapy.
Read the rest of the article here.
© Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters
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