Jordanian cancer patients' information needs and information-seeking behaviour: a descriptive study.

BACKGROUND

Cancer diagnosis can leave patients with uncertainty and anxiety that can be reduced by providing timely information and effective communication. Despite information provision being highly important in improving the quality of provided care, no study had been conducted to assess the information needs of Jordanian cancer patients.

AIM

To investigate the information needs of Jordanian cancer patients.

METHODS

A quantitative research method and a descriptive cross-sectional survey design were used. The sample consisted of 182 Jordanian cancer patients. Participants were recruited from two hospitals; one of them was a university hospital and the second was governmental hospital.

RESULTS

The mean age was 46.5 (SD 15.8 years); 52% of the sample were males. In addition, 38% of the patients had haematological tumours and 20% had gastro-intestinal tumours. The majority (157) wanted information about cancer. The results showed that patients would like to know everything about their disease (mean = 3.1, SD 0.9) and medical tests (mean = 3.0, SD 1.0). The results also revealed that younger patients, those who were working, and those with a high income had high information needs. However, patients who had reached the stage of palliative care seemed to require a lesser amount of information than those in the early stage of treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Many factors may cause variations in patients' information-seeking behaviour. Therefore, a notational policy for information provision is needed to satisfy different patients' information needs. Healthcare providers should be aware that cancer patients' will continue to need information at all stages.