new YORK (Reuters Health) – A new study reveals that
doctors who treat people with lung cancer do not usually
warn when patients and their caregivers do not coincide in
what would be the best treatment.
“unless it is being done a survey of conflicts,
“
something that oncologists do not, I am not surprised that they not as
“
perceive”, said Betty Kramer, who is investigating the aging and
care family in the Madison school of assistance
Social, in the University of Wisconsin, and did not participate in the
new study.
Primary caregivers are the people, in general a
spouse or adult child, who assume responsibilities as
carry patients to medical consultations, monitoring the
home-based care, provide comfort and meet the
basic needs.
Laura Siminoff, of the Faculty of Medicine of the Virginia
Commonwealth University, in Richmond, said that always note a
disconnection between caregivers and patients above the
cancer treatment objectives and the wishes of how
bear him.
Siminoff team interviewed 134 patients with cancer
pulmonary advanced to their oncologists and their primary caregivers.
Patients and relatives responded separately with
How often did not coincide in the therapeutic, decisions
as done or not other tests or receive care
palliative. Doctors responded with what frequency
perceived those differences of views.
71 Percent of the pairs paciente-cuidador replied
that there were no conflicts between them, while the 11 by
% of peers concurred that there were some problems.
Most of the time, doctors responded
correctly that there were no such conflicts between the
patients and caregivers.
But in the 17 cases in which only the caretaker mentioned
some kind of difference, oncologists had only warned
in five cases.
And in seven cases in which only the patient had
mentioned a problem with the family caregiver, the
oncologists had warned it only in two cases.
In 15 cases in which the patient and the caregiver
they agreed that there were conflicts, doctors had
observed in only two cases.
“is not something that oncologists often explore with the
“”
patients”, said Siminoff.
The study did not address whether the conflict between patients and
carers, as well as the perception of doctors, had
somehow affected the health of patients, but Kramer
noted that disagreements are often negatively influence in the
treatment.
El doctor Anthony Back, the Alliance of Seattle oncologist
for the attention of cancer, agreed: “in my Office I see
“
how (lack of perception of this problem) is a cause of
great dissatisfaction. “Many patients who want a second
opinion I consulted because they feel that your doctor is not interested
enough”.
For Back, oncologists should try to identify the
evidence to suggest that there would be disagreements and convene to
social or therapists assistants to help solve them.
Source: Lung Cancer, online March 8, 2012
