Negative recollections regarding doctor–patient interactions among men receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study of patient experiences in Japan

Objectives To explore the negative recollections of prostate cancer patients regarding the attitudes and language used by the doctors in delivering their diagnoses in Japan, in order to improve patient-centred communication.Design and setting This is a qualitative secondary analysis of the prostate...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Takeo Nakayama, Masako Torishima, Michiko Urao, Shinji Kosugi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2020-01-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/1/e032251.full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850111868706750464
author Takeo Nakayama
Masako Torishima
Michiko Urao
Shinji Kosugi
author_facet Takeo Nakayama
Masako Torishima
Michiko Urao
Shinji Kosugi
author_sort Takeo Nakayama
collection DOAJ
description Objectives To explore the negative recollections of prostate cancer patients regarding the attitudes and language used by the doctors in delivering their diagnoses in Japan, in order to improve patient-centred communication.Design and setting This is a qualitative secondary analysis of the prostate cancer narrative data from the Database of Individual Patients’ Experiences-Japan archives. A thematic analysis was conducted regarding negative recollections of doctors’ words/attitudes when delivering a cancer diagnosis. Recruitment was based on maximum variation sampling. Participants were recruited from medical institutions, patient associations and through media advertisements.Participants Men with a diagnosis of prostate cancer (n=51).Findings Of the 51 participants, 17 had negative recollections of the doctors’ words/attitudes during the delivery of the cancer diagnosis. After thematic analysis, 11 categories emerged: ‘Surprised by the abrupt disclosure of the diagnosis’, ‘Displeased by the direct disclosure of the diagnosis to the patient in the absence of family members’, ‘Unable to accept the doctor’s negative words in the explanations’, ‘Unable to understand the doctor’s technical jargon’, ‘Distrust due to failure in diagnosis based on previous examinations’, ‘Aggrieved at the doctor’s unwillingness to allow questions’, ‘Dissatisfied with explanations involving facts only’, ‘Indignant over the unexpected disclosure of life expectancy’, ‘Unable to accept the doctor’s blame for the delay in the initial hospital visit’, ‘Uncomfortable with the usage of inappropriate metaphors’ and ‘Pessimistic thoughts despite optimistic explanations’.Conclusions It is clear that patients have recollections of a variety of negative experiences regarding the words/attitudes of their doctors at the time they received their prostate cancer diagnosis. Thus, the use of narrative data would facilitate the appropriate application of commonly used guidelines for the delivery of cancer diagnoses tailored to individual patients in clinical practice.
format Article
id doaj-art-d590ac2ad67f41f5bf2ad3302ccbbae3
institution OA Journals
issn 2044-6055
language English
publishDate 2020-01-01
publisher BMJ Publishing Group
record_format Article
series BMJ Open
spelling doaj-art-d590ac2ad67f41f5bf2ad3302ccbbae32025-08-20T02:37:32ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552020-01-0110110.1136/bmjopen-2019-032251Negative recollections regarding doctor–patient interactions among men receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study of patient experiences in JapanTakeo Nakayama0Masako Torishima1Michiko Urao2Shinji Kosugi3Department of Health Informatics, Kyoto University School of Public Health, Kyoto, Japan1 Clinical Genetics Unit, Kyoto University Hospital, Kyoto, Sakyo-ku, Japan2 Department of Medical Ethics and Medical Genetics, Kyoto University School of Public Health, Kyoto, Sakyo-ku, Japan1 Clinical Genetics Unit, Kyoto University Hospital, Kyoto, Sakyo-ku, JapanObjectives To explore the negative recollections of prostate cancer patients regarding the attitudes and language used by the doctors in delivering their diagnoses in Japan, in order to improve patient-centred communication.Design and setting This is a qualitative secondary analysis of the prostate cancer narrative data from the Database of Individual Patients’ Experiences-Japan archives. A thematic analysis was conducted regarding negative recollections of doctors’ words/attitudes when delivering a cancer diagnosis. Recruitment was based on maximum variation sampling. Participants were recruited from medical institutions, patient associations and through media advertisements.Participants Men with a diagnosis of prostate cancer (n=51).Findings Of the 51 participants, 17 had negative recollections of the doctors’ words/attitudes during the delivery of the cancer diagnosis. After thematic analysis, 11 categories emerged: ‘Surprised by the abrupt disclosure of the diagnosis’, ‘Displeased by the direct disclosure of the diagnosis to the patient in the absence of family members’, ‘Unable to accept the doctor’s negative words in the explanations’, ‘Unable to understand the doctor’s technical jargon’, ‘Distrust due to failure in diagnosis based on previous examinations’, ‘Aggrieved at the doctor’s unwillingness to allow questions’, ‘Dissatisfied with explanations involving facts only’, ‘Indignant over the unexpected disclosure of life expectancy’, ‘Unable to accept the doctor’s blame for the delay in the initial hospital visit’, ‘Uncomfortable with the usage of inappropriate metaphors’ and ‘Pessimistic thoughts despite optimistic explanations’.Conclusions It is clear that patients have recollections of a variety of negative experiences regarding the words/attitudes of their doctors at the time they received their prostate cancer diagnosis. Thus, the use of narrative data would facilitate the appropriate application of commonly used guidelines for the delivery of cancer diagnoses tailored to individual patients in clinical practice.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/1/e032251.full
spellingShingle Takeo Nakayama
Masako Torishima
Michiko Urao
Shinji Kosugi
Negative recollections regarding doctor–patient interactions among men receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study of patient experiences in Japan
BMJ Open
title Negative recollections regarding doctor–patient interactions among men receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study of patient experiences in Japan
title_full Negative recollections regarding doctor–patient interactions among men receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study of patient experiences in Japan
title_fullStr Negative recollections regarding doctor–patient interactions among men receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study of patient experiences in Japan
title_full_unstemmed Negative recollections regarding doctor–patient interactions among men receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study of patient experiences in Japan
title_short Negative recollections regarding doctor–patient interactions among men receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study of patient experiences in Japan
title_sort negative recollections regarding doctor patient interactions among men receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis a qualitative study of patient experiences in japan
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/1/e032251.full
work_keys_str_mv AT takeonakayama negativerecollectionsregardingdoctorpatientinteractionsamongmenreceivingaprostatecancerdiagnosisaqualitativestudyofpatientexperiencesinjapan
AT masakotorishima negativerecollectionsregardingdoctorpatientinteractionsamongmenreceivingaprostatecancerdiagnosisaqualitativestudyofpatientexperiencesinjapan
AT michikourao negativerecollectionsregardingdoctorpatientinteractionsamongmenreceivingaprostatecancerdiagnosisaqualitativestudyofpatientexperiencesinjapan
AT shinjikosugi negativerecollectionsregardingdoctorpatientinteractionsamongmenreceivingaprostatecancerdiagnosisaqualitativestudyofpatientexperiencesinjapan