Lymphoma, Cancer Sufferers Want More Information from Physicians

According to a new study published in Cancer, the peer-review journal of the American Cancer Society, people suffering from lymphoma, breast cancer and colon cancer overwhelmingly desire to have access to their organized medical record (OMR.

In order to come to their conclusions, researchers utilized a randomized study of 350 patients who had recently been diagnosed with lymphoma, breast cancer or colon cancer. These individuals were asked to describe the level of their need to view their OMR at their leisure, and the results were documented. As per the results of the surveys, a staggering 98 percent of the people polled admitted that their treatment experiences would benefit from access to the information.

Apparently, the freedom to get this information offered sufferers peace of mind. The respondents all made it a point to indicate that their anxiety would be sufficiently reduced if they could get access to their OMRs in a timely fashion and when they wanted to see them.

The study results even went so far as to suggest that physicians who for whatever reason believe that allowing patients to see their results would somehow increase stress and be detrimental to their mental health are mistaken.

People who had access to their information, the results showed, were 1.69 times more likely to feel satisfied with their prognosis and 1.86 times more likely to feel like they were completely and totally informed regarding their situation.