Department of Medical Psychology, School of Medicine, University of Milan, San Paolo Hospital, Via Di Rudinì 8, 20142, Milan, Italy.
Support Care Cancer. 2009 Dec;17(12):1523-30. doi: 10.1007/s00520-009-0621-7. Epub 2009 Apr 3.
Major cross-cultural differences in truth-telling attitudes and practices have been demonstrated. Until recently, in Italy the doctor could conceal both diagnosis and prognosis to seriously ill patients out of beneficence. Signs of change have been reported, but the extent and way patients would be informed is still unknown. The aim of the study was to assess Italian patients' preferences regarding how they would like to be told about their cancer and its treatment. We examined the factor structure of the Measure of Patients' Preferences--Italian version (MPP-It) and whether demographical and medical variables were associated with the dimensions of patients' preferences.
Patients were invited to participate during a visit to the oncology department of the Lecco hospital (Italy) for chemotherapy or follow-up. An Italian version of the MPP-It was administered. Data were analyzed through a factor analysis.
A total of 210 cancer patients agreed to participate. Three main factors were identified: (1) Information (Talking About the Disease). Items in this factor were concerned with the dialogue about the disease and treatment options; (2) Support (The Emotional World of the Patient). These items referred to the supportive and relational aspects of the physician-patient encounter; (3) Care (The Ideal Doctor). These items related to the patients' desires about the doctor's personal attributes.
The first two factors, information and support, were comparable to those of similar American and Asian studies. The study suggests a cross-cultural uniformity among cancer patients who appreciate the informative and clearness of the communication aspects as being primarily important, while also giving high points to relationship aspects. The third factor appears unique to the Italian context.
已经证明，在告知态度和实践方面存在着重大的跨文化差异。直到最近，在意大利，医生出于善行可以向重病患者隐瞒诊断和预后。有报道称已经出现了变化的迹象，但患者将如何获得信息的程度和方式仍不得而知。本研究旨在评估意大利患者对其癌症及其治疗的告知偏好。我们检查了意大利版患者偏好量表（MPP-It）的因子结构，以及人口统计学和医学变量是否与患者偏好的维度相关。
在莱科医院（意大利）的化疗或随访期间，邀请患者参加。管理意大利版 MPP-It。通过因子分析对数据进行分析。
共有 210 名癌症患者同意参加。确定了三个主要因素：（1）信息（谈论疾病）。该因子中的项目涉及疾病和治疗方案的对话；（2）支持（患者的情感世界）。这些项目涉及医生与患者相遇的支持性和关系方面；（3）关怀（理想医生）。这些项目与患者对医生个人属性的期望有关。
前两个因素，信息和支持，与类似的美国和亚洲研究相似。研究表明，癌症患者在跨文化上具有一致性，他们认为沟通方面的信息和清晰度是主要重要的，同时也非常重视关系方面。第三个因素似乎是意大利特有的。
