Patient-physician communication about early stage prostate cancer: analysis of overall visit structure.

Background: We know little about patient-physician communication during visits to discuss diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer.

Objective: To examine the overall visit structure and how patients and physicians transition between communication activities during visits in which patients received new prostate cancer diagnoses.

Participants: Forty veterans and 18 urologists at one VA medical centre.

Methods: We coded 40 transcripts to identify major communication activities during visits and used empiric discourse analysis to analyse transitions between activities.

Results: We identified five communication activities that occurred in the following typical sequence: 'diagnosis delivery', 'risk classification', 'options talk', 'decision talk' and 'next steps'. The first two activities were typically brief and involved minimal patient participation. Options talk was typically the longest activity; physicians explicitly announced the beginning of options talk and framed it as their professional responsibility. Some patients were unsure of the purpose of visit and/or who should make treatment decisions.

Conclusion: Visits to deliver the diagnosis of early stage prostate cancer follow a regular sequence of communication activities. Physicians focus on discussing treatment options and devote comparatively little time and attention to discussing the new cancer diagnosis. Towards the goal of promoting patient-centred communication, physicians should consider eliciting patient reactions after diagnosis delivery and explaining the decision-making process before describing treatment options.