Who gets cancer treatment, and who completes it?November 13, 2002Cancer treatment is now very effective in many cases, yet not all patients with cancer are referred and not all complete their treatment programme. This has puzzled cancer specialists who have wondered if psychological factors might influence their decision and has led to research carried out by Dr Stan Lindsay from the Institute of Psychiatry in London, and presented on Saturday 23 November 2002, at The British Psychological Society's Annual Scottish Conference, held in Perth. Over three hundred patients with cancer were studied. Most patients were referred to oncologists according to the stage of their cancer. Those with the most advanced cancer were most likely to be referred. However, additional patients were referred if they were young, well educated, depressed, dissatisfied with the service, without gastrointestinal cancer and if they believed that their health was others' responsibility. Those who persevered with their treatment were more likely to have had breast cancer and to have been referred to the local hospital rather than the regional cancer centre. The researchers suggest that breast cancer patients may be more encouraged to complete treatment because of media publicity or because the treatment is less demanding and they call for better communication and clinical audit to reduce such inequalities. British Psychological Society (BPS) |
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