Iranian Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine

Disclosing the diagnosis of cancer to a patient could impact various aspects of their life. The present study was performed to evaluate the views of cancer patients about disclosure of the diagnosis of disease to them. The present study was conducted on 385 cancer patients in three teaching hospitals (Afzalipour, Shafa, and Bahonar) affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences between 2010 and 2011. These patients were evaluated for their views on revealing the diagnosis to them using a questionnaire that included the type of cancer, demographic information and their preferred manner of being informed of the diagnosis. Out of 385 cancer patients, 155 patients (%40) were aware of the diagnosis of their disease. The majority of patients who were aware of their diagnosis (%89) said they would like to know the diagnosis before treatment. Almost all patients who knew the diagnosis preferred to be aware of the prognosis of the disease and the complications of treatment. The only significant demographic variable was sex men were more eager to know the diagnosis of the disease (P value< 0.05). This study showed that the majority of cancer patients would like to be aware of the diagnosis, even though most of them were unaware that they had cancer.