Preferences of advanced lung cancer patients for patient-centred information and decision-making: a prospective multicentre study in 13 hospitals in Belgium.

/Objective/. To identify preferences of advanced lung cancer patients for information and decision-making participation in treatment options, healthcare-setting transfers and end-of-life decision-making.
/Methods/. Over the course of one year, pulmonologists and oncologists in 13 hospitals in Flanders, Belgium, invited patients with an initial diagnosis of non-small-cell lung cancer IIIb/IV to participate in the study. Shortly after inclusion, the patients were interviewed with a structured questionnaire.
/Results/. 128 patients with a median estimated survival time of 10 months participated. Almost all wanted information on diagnosis, treatment and cure rate and slightly fewer on life expectancy (88.2%). Information about palliative care was desired by 63.5% of patients and about end-of-life decisions by 56.8%. For treatment decision-making, 63.3% of patients preferred the doctor to have primary control, for end-of-life decision-making 15.5%. The percentage of patients who preferred personal control over medical decision-making increased to 14.8% for treatment, 25.0% for transfer and 49.2% for end-of-life decisions, all of which were higher than for medical decisions in general (9.3%).
/Conclusion/. Information and participation preferences of advanced lung cancer patients differ depending on the type of information or decision.
/Practice implications/. As part of a patient-centred approach, physicians should not only check the general but also the specific information and participation preferences of their patients.