Cancer information-seeking preferences linked to distinct patient experiences and differential satisfaction with cancer care.

OBJECTIVE: True person-centered care (PCC) involves anticipating, responding to, and integrating patients' needs and preferences as the illness experience unfolds. PCC success rests, in part, on quality provider-patient communication and tailored information exchange. These processes can have profound effects on the patient experience, self-management and health outcomes including survival. Cancer information-seeking preferences (CISP) by patients are increasingly found to modulate illness and care processes. However, research has yet to document the CISP types and prevalence as well as their associations with satisfaction with care.

METHODS: Individuals (N = 2142) treated for cancer in the last 6 months completed the Ambulatory Oncology Patient Satisfaction Survey (AOPSS) and a CISP measure.

RESULTS: Whereas 60.3% (n = 1292) reported wanting to actively seek information about their cancer, a surprisingly high percentage (i.e., 39.7%; n = 850) did not. Men reported avoiding cancer information to a greater extent than women, χ² (4, N = 2108) = 12.00, p =  0.02. CISP were also differentially associated with 6 key domains of satisfaction, with intense seekers consistently being less satisfied.

CONCLUSION AND PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: These findings underscore how CISP can significantly affect patients' cancer experience as well as their care satisfaction.