Patients' and Family Members' Decision-Making and Information Disclosure Preferences in a Single-Center Survey in China: A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the medical decision-making and information disclosure preferences is important for care quality.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the feasibility of using the questionnaires and to identify modifications needed in the following study.

DESIGN: Thirty-three pairs of patients with advanced cancers and their caregivers were asked to complete the questionnaires.

RESULTS: More than 60% of patients and caregivers had an educational level of middle school and below. The active, passive, or shared decision-making preferences for patients were 33.3%, 39.4%, and 27.3%, respectively. Twenty of 33 patients and 24 of 33 caregivers misunderstood the questions.

CONCLUSIONS: Low educational levels may be the reason for poor understanding imprecision. It is necessary to use the modification version of the questionnaires in developing countries.