The Changes of Confidence, Accuracy and Knowledge of Medical Professionals after the Education for Survival Predictionin Terminally Ill Cancer Patients.
- Author:
Jun Seok PARK
1
;
Na Young BAEK
;
Sang Yeon SUH
;
Yuil KIM
;
Hweesoo JEONG
;
Sang Woo OH
;
Nak Jin SUNG
;
Hong Yup AHN
;
Ah Ram SEO
;
Yong Joo LEE
Author Information
1. Department of Family Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea. lisasuhmd@hotmail.com
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Prognosis;
Education;
Attitude
- MeSH:
Hospices;
Humans;
Palliative Care;
Prognosis;
Republic of Korea;
Terminally Ill;
Surveys and Questionnaires
- From:Korean Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
2012;15(3):155-161
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
PURPOSE: In this study, we evaluated the effects of training for survival prediction of terminally ill patients in terms of medical professionals' confidence, accuracy and knowledge of survival prediction. METHODS: Twenty-nine participants completed a self-administered questionnaire where they scored their confidence, accuracy and knowledge of survival prediction before and after the training session. The training was provided in July 2009 at a university hospital located in Gyeonggi province, Republic of Korea. The participants were instructed by a professor of family medicine specialized in hospice palliative medicine to predict survival of a case using the palliative prognostic score and objective prognostic score. The training was provided in the form of a PowerPoint presentation for 40 minutes. RESULTS: Participants' confidence in survival prediction significantly increased from 4.00+/-1.73 (mean+/-SD) (0~10, visual analogue scale) to 5.83+/-1.71 after the training (P<0.001). Before training, participant's level of confidence significantly correlated with their age (P=0.04). The training significantly improved the correlation between the confidence level and the number of terminal cancer patients whom they have experienced (P=0.005 before training, P=0.017 after training). Participant's accuracy in survival prediction also significantly improved from 14 of 29 (48%) to 27 of 29 (93.1%) (P<0.001). The change in knowledge of survival prediction was too small to be statistically analyzed. CONCLUSION: After training, the confidence and accuracy scores significantly improved. Further study with a greater number of participants is needed to generalize this finding.
