Cancer communication patterns and the influence of patient characteristics: disparities in information-giving and affective behaviors
Abstract
Objective To examine whether patient characteristics are associated with communication patterns between oncologists and breast cancer patients. Methods The study was conducted at 14 practices with 58 oncologists with 405 newly diagnosed patients with no prior history of breast cancer. The initial consultation between oncologist and patient was audiotaped and a detailed communication analysis performed. Interviews were conducted with patients and physicians immediately before and after consultations. Results Disparities were found across all patient demographics. Younger patients asked more questions as did those who were white had more than a high school education and when they reported an income that was high or medium income, compared to low (p Conclusion This study indicates that patient demographic factors, such as race, income level, education and age seem to influence the amount of time physicians spend in almost all communication categories with patients. One recurring difference across most communication categories was race. Racial differences occurred in almost every one of the communication categories examined. White patients had many more utterances in almost every communication category than their non-white counterparts. These differences may mean a less adequate decision-making process for patients who are members of racial or ethnic minorities, patients who are less affluent, older, and have less education. Practice implications This study found that providers c…
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Low SES patients tend to participate less actively in consultations, for example asking fewer questions, as well as being less likely to express emotions and spontaneously volunteer information.
“Low SES patients tend to participate less actively in consultations, for example asking fewer questions, as well as being less likely to express emotions and spontaneously volunteer information (11).”
From High levels of socioeconomic deprivation do not inhibit patients’ communication of concerns in head and neck cancer review clinics (2018) · cites this paper as [11]
Healthcare professionals tend to involve low SES patients less in their consultations by giving them less information, spending less time building rapport with them and listening less attentively.
“Furthermore healthcare professionals tend to involve low SES patients less in their consultations by giving them less information, spending less time building rapport with them and listening less attentively (9,11,12).”
From High levels of socioeconomic deprivation do not inhibit patients’ communication of concerns in head and neck cancer review clinics (2018) · cites this paper as [11]
It may be the patient not the doctor who curtails rapport building by moving towards problem solving.
“Such an interpretation fits with previous research finding that healthcare professionals spend more time building rapport with high SES patients (11), and adds the insight that it may be the patient not the doctor who curtails rapport building by moving towards problem solving.”
From High levels of socioeconomic deprivation do not inhibit patients’ communication of concerns in head and neck cancer review clinics (2018) · cites this paper as [11]
The absence of significant correlations suggests that SES, assessed by geographic location, is a weaker indicator associated with clinical communication quality than individual-level variables such as education.
“The absence of significant correlations between IMD decile and number of cues and concerns, as well as consultant responses suggests that perhaps SES, assessed by geographic location, is a weaker indicator associated with clinical communication quality than individual-level variables such as education (11).”
From High levels of socioeconomic deprivation do not inhibit patients’ communication of concerns in head and neck cancer review clinics (2018) · cites this paper as [11]
Cites
Patient participation in deciding breast cancer treatment and subsequent quality of life
Street, R. L., & Voigt, B. (1997) · Medical Decision Making · doi:10.1177/0272989x9701700306 · Cited by 258 · cited 1× · see citing works
“A substantial body of literature indicates that patients who experience effective communication report greater satisfaction with their medical care, lower levels of anxiety and depression, higher levels of understanding about their condition, are more likely to adhere to treatment, and have higher overall levels of we…”
Background
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Socio-economic status of the patient and doctor–patient communication: does it make a difference?
Willems, S., De Maesschalck, S., Deveugele, M., Derese, A., & De Maeseneer, J. (2005) · Patient Education and Counseling · doi:10.1016/j.pec.2004.02.011 · Cited by 582 · see citing works
Mehnert, A., & Koch, U. (2008) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2007.12.005 · Cited by 473 · see citing works
Dovidio, J. F., Penner, L. A., Albrecht, T. L., Norton, W. E., Gaertner, S. L., & Shelton, J. N. (2008) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.03.019 · Cited by 455 · see citing works
The social gradient in doctor-patient communication
Verlinde, E., De Laender, N., De Maesschalck, S., Deveugele, M., & Willems, S. (2012) · International Journal for Equity in Health · doi:10.1186/1475-9276-11-12 · Cited by 307 · see citing works
The Interaction of Patient Race, Provider Bias, and Clinical Ambiguity on Pain Management Decisions
Hirsh, A. T., Hollingshead, N. A., Ashburn-Nardo, L., & Kroenke, K. (2015) · The Journal of Pain · doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2015.03.003 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Rose, J. H. (2008) · Clinical Interventions in Aging · doi:10.2147/cia.s1262 · Cited by 48 · see citing works
Views of psycho-oncologists, physicians, and nurses on cancer care—A qualitative study
Steven, B., Lange, L., Schulz, H., & Bleich, C. (2019) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0210325 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Allen, S., Harris, R., Brown, S. L., Humphris, G., Zhou, Y., & Rogers, S. N. (2018) · British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery · doi:10.1016/j.bjoms.2018.05.015 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Aversive racism and medical interactions with Black patients: A field study
Penner, L. A., Dovidio, J. F., West, T. V., Gaertner, S. L., Albrecht, T. L., Dailey, R. K., & Markova, T. (2010) · Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2009.11.004 · Cited by 394 · see citing works
- Authors
- Siminoff, L. A., Graham, G. C., & Gordon, N. H.
- Affiliations
- Case Western Reserve University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Siminoff, Laura A.
- ORCID
- Siminoff, Laura A.
- Venue
- Patient Education and Counseling
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2006-09
- Volume
- 62
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 355-360
- ISSN
- 0738-3991 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2007284841
- Cited by
- 354
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 27
- FWCI
- 32.16
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Patient Education and Counseling (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (R01-HS08516)
- National Cancer Institute
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Empathy and Medical Education
- Keywords
- physician-patient communication, breast cancer, racial disparities, socioeconomic disparities, patient demographics, relationship building, emotional disclosure, coping, communication skills training, newly diagnosed cancer
- MeSH terms
- Affect, Age Factors, Attitude of Health Personnel, Attitude to Health, Breast Neoplasms, Clinical Competence, Communication, Cooperative Behavior, Decision Making, Educational Status, Female, Humans, Income, Male, Medical Oncology, Middle Aged, Patient Education as Topic, Physician-Patient Relations, Physicians, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sex Factors, Tape Recording, Time Factors, Logistic Models, Racial Groups
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
