The Patient Knows Best: Incorporating Patient-Reported Outcomes Into Routine Clinical Care

Read the editorial published in JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute: The Patient Knows Best: Incorporating Patient-Reported Outcomes Into Routine Clinical Care.

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Patients with cancer experience many physical and psychological symptoms that negatively impact both their experience of their illness and health outcomes (1–4). Among patients with lung cancer, data suggest that symptoms such as pain, dyspnea, fatigue, and nausea are associated with worse quality of life (QOL) and increased psychological distress (5). Research has also demonstrated that both poor QOL and depression are associated with worse survival (6–13). Notably, studies have shown that clinicians often fail to reliably detect their patients’ symptoms and frequently underestimate their severity (14–17). In addition, studies suggest that patients with cancer may underreport their symptoms to their clinicians, resulting in poor symptom management (4,18–20). Thus, there is increasing interest in developing and testing interventions that allow patients...

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This is just an introduction to make you aware of this editorial. To read the full article, an Oxford academic account is necessary. Weblink to the JNCI article.

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