The impact of different criteria for selecting information to be provided to women undergoing diagnostic breast tests.

OBJECTIVE

To determine if the content of written information for women undergoing diagnostic breast tests would change depending on the criteria used to decide what information should be included.

METHODS

Questionnaire study eliciting the views of advocates, breast physicians, breast surgeons, general practitioners, people with an interest in ethics, and women who had undergone breast tests on information that should be provided to women undergoing diagnostic breast tests. Different criteria were used to determine what information should be included in the written information.

RESULTS

Advocates, breast physicians, breast surgeons, general practitioners, people with an interest in ethics, and women who had undergone breast tests held significantly different views about the importance of specific information items for women undergoing tests. Different methods of resolving these differences in views lead to the inclusion of different information in patient information material.

CONCLUSION

This study highlights the practical necessity for guidelines for developing written information to include details about how to resolve differences in opinions about what information should be included in patient material.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Further research is needed to determine the most appropriate way to decide the content of written information. In the meantime, developers of written patient information need to be cognizant of the effects of their decisions on the content of patient information.