ONCOLOGICAL TREATMENT FROM PATIENTS’ ANGLE

Abstract

Background/Aims: Conducive to improve the participatory process, it is necessary to identify the factors that modulate the perception of risks and benefits of any therapy; in this context, this paper aims to achieve a better understanding of patients' perspectives on cancer treatment to help identify possible discrepancies, resulting in optimizing and customizing various therapeutic strategies and increasing their compliance with treatment. 
 Materials and Methods: The present study was performed on a group consisting of 83 patients hospitalized between April 15 and May 15, 2018 in the Oncology Department of the Municipal Hospital "Philanthropy" in Craiova.
 In order to assess their perception of the risks / benefits of cancer treatment, a questionnaire based on CTSQ was developed.
 Results: 39.76% of patients are convinced that oncological treatment will certainly cure them; 43.37% mistakenly believe that cancer therapy can surely prevent cancer spreading; 44.58% of patients consider that therapy limits their activity; 78.31% of the surveyed patients consider that they have always been informed about the potential benefits of the treatment, while 77.11% regarding risks; only 27.71% would definitely opt for the same therapy.
 Conclusion: This study showed a lower-than-expected level of understanding of cancer treatment. The results obtained in this study should be interpreted with caution, as it is necessary to study a much larger batch to validate them.