Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Palliative Medicine
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Bruera, E.
Right arrow Articles by Bennett, M. I
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Bruera, E.
Right arrow Articles by Bennett, M. I
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

news

A randomized, controlled trial of physician postures when breaking bad news to cancer patients

Eduardo Bruera

Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, Texas, ebruera{at}mdanderson.org

J Lynn Palmer

Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, Texas

Ellen Pace

Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, Texas

Karen Zhang

Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, Texas

Jie Willey

Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, Texas

Florian Strasser

Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, Texas

Michael I Bennett

Department of Palliative Care and Rehabilitation Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, Texas

Medical training teaches physicians to sit when breaking bad news, though there have been no controlled studies to support this advice. We aimed to establish cancer patients' preference for physician posture when physicians break bad news using a randomized controlled crossover trial in a department of palliative care at a large US cancer center. Referred patients were blind to the hypothesis and watched video sequences of a sitting or standing physician breaking bad news to a cancer patient and 168 of 173 participants (88 female) completed the study. Sitting physicians were preferred and viewed as significantly more compassionate than standing physicians (P < 0.0001) but other physician attributes and behaviours were generally rated as of equal or more importance than posture. In summary, cancer patients, especially females, prefer physicians to sit when breaking bad news and rate physicians who adopt this posture as more compassionate. However, sitting posture alone is unlikely to compensate for poor communication skills and lack of other respectful gestures during a consultation. Palliative Medicine 2007; 21: 501—505

Key Words: clinical trial • communication skills • palliative care

Palliative Medicine, Vol. 21, No. 6, 501-505 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0269216307081184
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 PediatricsHome page
L. Sices, L. Egbert, and M. B. Mercer
Sugar-coaters and Straight Talkers: Communicating About Developmental Delays in Primary Care
Pediatrics, October 1, 2009; 124(4): e705 - e713.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]