Disclosure of Adverse Cancer News: The Public's Perspective in a Middle Eastern Country.

OBJECTIVES: The disclosure to patients of unfavorable news related to cancer remains a controversial issue in the Middle East. This study investigated the perspective of the public in Saudi Arabia regarding the disclosure of unfavorable cancer-related news.

METHODS: A convenience sample of 103 adult noncancer patients attending a family medicine clinic were asked to respond to 9 closed-ended questions. These questions reflected possible adverse news from the time of diagnosis until the end of life. The primary endpoint was an affirmative response (AR) to =7 questions (AR=7) indicating a preference to be informed of the majority (=78%) of adverse situations.

RESULTS: One hundred individuals completed the questionnaire. Of these, 56 (56%) were male, and 44 (44%) were female. The median age was 32 years (18-75 years). Different questions were answered affirmatively by 76-99% of the responders. An AR=7 was reported by 83% of the responders. There was no statistically significant correlation between an AR=7 and age, gender or employment status (Chi-squared P values: 0.731, 0.427, and 0.148, respectively). There was a trend towards an AR=7 among those with higher levels of education compared to those with a lower level of education (88% and 73%, respectively, P=0.055).

CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the majority of Saudi Arabians prefer to be informed of most of the adverse health-related news if diagnosed with cancer. These results should encourage physicians to keep cancer patients informed of their health-related events unless the patient indicates otherwise.