Breast Cancer Patients' Preferences When Receiving Bad News: A Qualitative Study From a Middle Eastern Country

Background: Telling bad news to the patients after a diagnosis of breast canceris one of the most important duties of a physician. The aim of this study was toexplore breast cancer patient's preferences regarding how to receive bad news. Methods: A group of ۱۵ women with breast cancer were purposively recruitedto this qualitative study. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted toidentify the patients' preferences through content analysis. Results: The age of participants ranged between ۲۸ and ۵۸ years. Nine patientshad undergone mastectomy and the remaining ۶ had received conservativesurgery. The minimum time between the diagnosis and receiving the news ofcancer was ۱ month, the maximum ۱۵. Altogether, ۲۵۰ codes were extracted aftercontent analysis and categorized into ۷ categories and ۴۳ subcategories. The maincategories were the method of disclosure of bad news, medical information,communication skills, emotional support, family involvement, the setting,psycho-spiritual care, and the word “cancer." Conclusion: Knowing about patients' preferences regarding the methods ofbreast cancer diagnosis disclosure can help physicians to effectively deliver badnews. Therefore, it is necessary that the clinicians be informed about the themesthat the patients consider important while delivering bad news to patients.

Keywords:

Bad News , patients' preferences , breast cancer