Women’s decision-making needs related to treatment for recurrent ovarian cancer: A pilot study

Lynne J.A. Jolicoeur, Annette M. O'Connor, Laura Hopkins, Ian D. Graham

Abstract


The purpose of this pilot study was to describe the decision-making needs of women with ovarian cancer related to treatment of recurrent disease.

Design: A retrospective, cross-sectional needs assessment was conducted. Data were collected using face-to-face interviews and analyzed using content analysis.

Results: Thirteen women were recruited. Eleven women did not report difficulty in making the decision. Five women perceived that they had options. Seven had a passive role in the decision. When considering future decisions, nine women preferred a shared or autonomous role; seven wanted to be presented with options. The role of nurses in providing information was emphasized.

Conclusions: The findings provide some beginning direction for an inter-professional decision support approach, as well as implications for future research.


Full Text:

PDF

References


Charles, C., Redko, C., Whelan, T., Gafni, A., & Reyno, L. (1998).

Doing nothing is no choice: Lay construction of treatment

decision-making among women with early-stage breast cancer.

Sociol. Health Illness, 20, 71–95.

Degner, L.F., & Beaton, J.I. (1987). Life-death decisions in health

care. New York: Hemisphere Publishing.

Degner, L.F., & Sloan, J.A. (1992). Decision-making during serious

illness: What role do patients really want to play? Journal of

Clinical Epidemiology, 45, 941–950.

Donovan, K.A., Greene, P.G., Shuster, J.L., Partridge, E.E., & Tucker,

D.C. (2002). Treatment preferences in recurrent ovarian cancer.

Gynecologic Oncology, 86, 200–211.

Elit, L., Charles, C., Gold, I., Gafni, A., Farrell, S., Tedford, S., et al.

(2003). Women’s perceptions about treatment decision-making for

ovarian cancer. Gynecologic Oncology, 88, 89–95.

Fiset, V., O’Connor, A.M., Evans, W., Graham, I., DeGrasse, C., &

Logan, J. (2000). Development and evaluation of a decision aid for

patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. Health

Expectations, 3, 125–136.

Fitch, M.I., Deane, K., & Howell, D. (2003). Living with ovarian

cancer: Women’s perspectives on treatment and treatment decisionmaking.

Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal, 13(1), 8–20.

Fitch, M.I., Gray, R.E., DePetrillo, D., Franssen, E., & Howell, D.

(1999). Canadian women’s perspectives on ovarian cancer.

Cancer Prevention & Control, 3, 52–60.

Fung Kee Fung, M., Elit, L., Hirte, H., Rosen, B., & Members of the

Gynecologic Oncology Disease Site Group. (2006).

Chemotherapy for recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer

previously treated with platinum. Cancer Care Ontario.

Howe, H.L., Lehnherr, M., & Katterhagen, J.G. (1997). Effects of

physician outreach programs on rural-urban differences in breast

cancer management. Journal of Rural Health, 13, 109–117.

Howell, D., Fitch, M.I., & Deane, K.A. (2003). Women’s experiences

with recurrent ovarian cancer. Cancer Nursing, 26, 10–17.

McCormack, J.P., Dolovich, L., Levine, M., Burns, S., Nair, K.,

Cassels, A., et al. (2003). Providing evidence-based information to

patients in general practice and pharmacies: What is the

acceptability, usefulness and impact on drug use? Health

Expectations, 6, 281–289.

McGuire, W.P. (2002). Patient active guide to living with ovarian

cancer. Ref type: Slide.

Murray, M.A. (2001). Women’s decision-making needs regarding

location of care in the last weeks of life for a terminal illness: A

pilot study. Master’s of Science in Nursing, University of Ottawa.

National Cancer Institute of Canada. (2008). Canadian Cancer

Statistics 2008. Retrieved from www.cancer.ca

O’Connor, A.M., & Jacobsen, M.J. (2007). Decisional conflict:

Supporting people experiencing uncertainty about options

affecting their health [PDF monograph on the Internet]. Ottawa:

Ottawa Health Decision Centre.

O’Connor, A.M., Stacey, D., Entwistle, V., Llewenllyn-Thomas, H.,

Rovner, D., Holmes-Rovner, M., et al. (2004). Decision aids for

people facing health treatment or screening decisions

(Cochrane Review). The Cochrane Library, Chichester, U.K.: John

Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Penson, R.T., Digman, F., Seiden, M.V., Lee, H., Gallagher, C.J.,

Matulonis, U.A., et al. (2004). Attitudes to chemotherapy in

patients with ovarian cancer. Gynecologic Oncology, 94, 427–435.

Rutten, L.J., Arora, N.K., Bakos, A.D., Aziz, N., & Rowland, J.

(2005). Information needs and sources of information among

cancer patients: A systematic review of research. Patient

Education and Counseling, 57, 250–261.

Silverman, D. (2001). Interpreting qualitative data: Methods for

analyzing talk, text and interaction (2nd ed.). London: Sage

Publications.

Stacey, D., O’Connor, A. M., DeGrasse, C., & Verma, S. (2003).

Development and evaluation of a breast cancer prevention decision

aid for higher-risk women. Health Expectations, 6, 3–18.

Stafford, D., Szczys, R., Becker, R., Anderson, J., & Bushfield, S.

(1998). How breast cancer treatment decisions are made by women

in North Dakota. American Journal of Surgery, 176, 515–519.

Stewart, D.E., Wong, F., Cheung, A.M., Dancey, J., Meana, M., Cameron,

J.I., et al. (2000). Information needs and decisional preferences among

women with ovarian cancer. Gynecologic Oncology, 77, 357–361.

Watt, S. (2000). Clinical decision-making in the context of chronic

illness. Health Expectations, 3, 6–16.

Whelan, T., Levine, M., Willan, A., Gafni, A., Sanders, K., Mirsky,

D., et al. (2004). Effect of a decision aid on knowledge and

treatment decision-making for breast cancer surgery: A

randomized trial [see comment]. JAMA, 292, 435–441.

Whelan, T., Sawka, C., Levine, M., Gafni, A., Reyno, L., Willan, A.,

et al. (2003). Helping patients make informed choices: A

randomized trial of a decision aid for adjuvant chemotherapy in

lymph node-negative breast cancer [see comment]. Journal of the

National Cancer Institute, 95, 581–587.

Witkin, B.R., & Altschuld, J.W. (1995). Planning and conducting

needs assessments: A practical guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Publications.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.