RADIATION ONCOLOGY—ORIGINAL ARTICLE Effects of interval between diagnosis and time of survey upon preferred information format for prostate cancer patients CF Sharpley 1 and DRH Christie 2 1 Department of Psychology, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales and 2 Premion, Queensland, Australia CF Sharpley PhD; DRH Christie MBChB. Correspondence Dr Christopher F Sharpley, PO Box 378, Coolangatta, Qld 4225, Australia. Email: csharpley@onthenet.com.au Conflicts of interest: None. Submitted 31 October 2008; accepted 1 December 2008. doi:10.1111/j.1754-9485.2009.02064.x Summary Previous data indicate that receiving adequate information about their cancer can assist patients to cope with treatment and comply with treatment regimes. The aim of the present study was to determine whether time since diagnosis affected patients’ evaluations of the information they had received at the time of their diagnosis. Two hundred and thirty-seven patients who had received a diag- nosis and treatment for prostate cancer 4 months earlier completed a question- naire about their ratings of, and preferences for, various types of information, their anxiety and depression levels and some background data. The most com- mon and preferred form of information that the patients in the current study received was verbal information during an interview with their oncologist. Demographic factors and levels of anxiety and depression did not influence patient information preferences. Time since diagnosis was associated with ele- vated anxiety and depression, and consequent lower recall of having received information, but also with positive inflation of the value of the material that they did recall having received. Patients may not recall information given to them early after diagnosis and may make unreliable evaluations of its value to them due to psychological state. Key words: information; oncology; patient preference; prostate cancer. Introduction In a previous study we investigated the evaluations made by prostate cancer patients of the information that they had received about their illness and its treatment, their preferences for the format of any future information that they might receive and the effects of age, educational and occupational background and level of anxiety or depres- sion upon these responses. 1 Those data indicated that the most commonly-received format of information was ver- bal information from their treating oncologist, followed by an information booklet, and that those patients would have preferred to received information from those two sources in the future. While there were no significant ef- fects according to their educational or occupational back- grounds or levels of anxiety, patients who were above the median for depression preferred receiving no information at all in the future significantly more than patients whose depression scores were below the median. Receiving accurate information about their cancer positively influences patients’ decisions regarding their treatment, management of fear and anxiety, expectations of outcomes, treatment compliance and management of side-effects, 2–6 although some data suggest that the (sometimes different) information needs of patients and their families are not met by health care professionals, 7–9 supporting the continued investigation of prostate cancer patients’ preferences for information. 10 In terms of psy- chological state, the incidence of anxiety and depression among prostate cancer patients is elevated compared to their age-related peers, 11,12 but can vary across the period immediately following diagnosis to some time after treatment. 13,14 However, even though anxiety and depression can strongly influence cancer patients’ ability to comprehend information, the relationship between time since diagnosis, anxiety, depression and preference for information format is poorly understood. 10 Because pre- vious data suggest that the prevalence of psychological distress reduces to around approximately half the original level at 2 years after treatment, we hypothesized that, as a patient recovers from treatment and life returns to nor- mal, their views about the information they had received could change. 15 The acute anxiety felt at the time of diag- nosis that led to a strong demand for large amounts of Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology 53 (2009) 221–225 ª 2009 The Authors Journal compilation ª 2009 The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists 221