A Systematic Review of Cultural Preferences for Receiving Medical “Bad News” in the United States

Christine Larkin, H. Russell Searight

Lake Superior State University, Sault Sainte Marie, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/health.2014.616251                

Abstract

According to the dominant models of medical ethics in the United States and many Western countries, physician disclosure of information such as diagnosis, treatment options, and prognosis is considered an essential precondition for patient informed consent. While being consistent with the principle of patient autonomy stressed in many Western healthcare systems, full disclosure—particularly of life-threatening diagnoses and poor prognoses—is inconsistent with the cultural values of many ethnic communities within the United States. A systematic review of research examining cultural preferences for disclosure of medical “bad news” was conducted. Results suggested that cultural preferences are more heterogeneous than has often been portrayed. Particularly when communicating with patients and families from culturally and ethnically diverse backgrounds, health care professionals should ask about preferences for receiving medical information and making treatment decisions.

Keywords

Medical Ethics, Health Care Communication, Cross Cultural Health

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	National Center for Health Statistics (2007) Health, United States 2007: With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville.
[2]	Fries, J.F. (1980) Aging, Natural Death, and the Compression of Morbidity. The New England Journal of Medicine, 303, 130-135. Print. http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJM198007173030304
[3]	Crimmins, E.M. and Beltrán-Sánchez, H. (2010) Mortality and Morbidity Trends: Is There Compression of Morbidity? The Journals of Gerontology, 66B, 75-86. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbq088
[4]	Buckman, R. (1992) How to Break Bad News: A Guide for Health Professionals. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore.
[5]	Novack, D.H., Plumer, R., Smith, R.L., Ochitill, H., Morrow, G.R. and Bennett, J.M. (1979) Changes in Physicians’ Attitudes toward Telling the Cancer Patient. Journal of the American Medical Association, 241, 897-900. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1979.03290350017012
[6]	Oken, D. (1961) What to Tell Cancer Patients: A Study of Medical Attitudes. Journal of the American Medical Association, 175, 1120-1128. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1961.03040130004002
[7]	Candib, L.M. (2002) Truth Telling and Advance Planning at the End of Life: Problems with Autonomy in a Multicultural World. Families, Systems, & Health, 20, 213-228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/h0089471
[8]	Searight, H.R. and Gafford, J. (2005) Cultural Diversity at the End of Life: Issues and Guidelines. American Family Physician, 71, 515-522.
[9]	Blackhall, L.J., Murphy, S.T., Frank, G., Michel, V. and Azen, S. (1995) Ethnicity and Attitudes toward Patient Autonomy. Journal of the American Medical Association, 274, 820-825. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1995.03530100060035
[10]	Wright, R.W., Brand, R.A., Dunn, W. and Spindler, K.P. (2007) How to Write a Systematic Review. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 455, 23-29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/BLO.0b013e31802c9098
[11]	Cook, D.J., Sackett, D.L. and Spitzer, W.O. (1995) Methodologic Guidelines for Systematic Reviews of Randomized Control Trials in Health Care from the Potsdam Consultation on Meta-Analysis. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 48, 167-171.
[12]	Sackett, D.L., Rosenberg, W.M., Gray, J.A., Haynes, R.B. and Richardson, W.S. (1996) Evidence Based Medicine: What It Is and What It Isn’t. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 312, 71-72.
[13]	Davidoff, F., Haynes, B., Sackett, D. and Smith, R. (1995) Evidence Based Medicine. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 310, 1085-1086.
[14]	Ebell, M.H., Siwek, J., Weiss, B.D., Woolf, S.H., Susman, J., Ewigman, B. and Bowman, M. (2004) Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy (SORT): A Patient-Centered Approach to Grading Evidence in the Medical Literature. The Journal of the American Board of Family Practice, 17, 59-67. http://dx.doi.org/10.3122/jabfm.17.1.59
[15]	Kwak, J. and Salmon, J.R. (2007) Attitudes and Preferences of Korean-American Older Adults and Caregivers on End-of-Life Care. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 55, 1867-1872. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01394.x
[16]	Csikos, A., Mastrojohn, J., Albanese, T., Richmond, M.J., Radwany, S. and Busa, C. (2010) Physicians’ Beliefs and Attitudes about End-of-Life Care: A Comparison of Selected Regions in Hungary and the United States. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 39, 76-87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2009.05.019
[17]	Gabbay, B.B., Matsumura, S., Etzioni, S., Asch, S.M., Rosenfeld, K.E., Shiojiri, T., Balingit, P.P. and Lorenz, K.A. (2005) Negotiating End-of-Life Decision Making: A Comparison of Japanese and US Residents’ Approaches. Academic Medicine, 80, 617-621. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/00001888-200507000-00003
[18]	Voltz, R., Akabayashi, A., Reese, C., Ohi, G. and Sass, H.M. (1998) End-of-Life Decisions and Advance Directives in Palliative Care: A Cross-Cultural Survey of Patients and Health-Care Professionals. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 16, 153-162. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0885-3924(98)00067-0
[19]	Braun, U.K., Ford, M.E., Beyth, R.J. and McCullough, L.B. (2010) The Physician’s Professional Role in End-of-Life Decision-Making: Voices of Racially and Ethnically Diverse Physicians. Patient Education and Counseling, 80, 3-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2009.10.018
[20]	Blackhall, L.J., Frank, G., Murphy, S. and Michel, M.V. (2001) Bioethics in a Different Tongue: The Case of Truth-Telling. Journal of Urban Health, 78, 59-71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jurban/78.1.59
[21]	Muni, S., Engelberg, R.A., Treece, P.D., Dotolo, D. and Curtis, J.R. (2011) The Influence of Race/Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status on End-of-Life Care in the ICU. Chest, 139, 1025-1033. http://dx.doi.org/10.1378/chest.10-3011
[22]	Braun, U.K. and Beyth, R.J. (2008) Voices of African American, Caucasian and Hispanic Surrogates on the Burdens of End-of-Life Decision Making. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 23, 267-274. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11606-007-0487-7
[23]	Kwak, J. and Haley, W.E. (2005) Current Research Findings on End-of-Life Decision Making among Racially or Ethnically Diverse Groups. The Gerontologist, 45, 634-641. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geront/45.5.634
[24]	Zager, B.S. and Yancy, M. (2011) A Call to Improve Practice Concerning Cultural Sensitivity in Advance Directives: A Review of the Literature. Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing, 8, 202-211. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-6787.2011.00222.x
[25]	Matsumura, S., Bito, S., Liu, H., Kahn, K., Fukuhara, S., Kagawa-Singer, M. and Wenger, N. (2002) Acculturation of Attitudes Toward End-of-Life Care. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 17, 531-539. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2002.10734.x
[26]	Beyene, Y. (1992) Medical Disclosure and Refugees. Telling Bad News to Ethiopian Patients. Western Journal of Medicine, 157, 328-332.
[27]	Kreling, B., Selsky, C., Perret-Gentil, M., Huerta, E.E. and Mandelblatt, J.S. (2010) The Worst Thing about Hospice Is That They Talk about Death: Contrasting Hospice Decisions and Experience among Immigrant Central and South American Latinos with US-Born White, Non-Latino Cancer Caregivers. Palliative Medicine, 24, 427-434. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269216310366605
[28]	Shrank, W.H., Kutner, J.S., Richardson, T., Mularski, R.A., Fischer, S. and Kagawa-Singer, M. (2005) Focus Group Findings about the Influence of Culture on Communication Preferences in End-of-Life Care. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 20, 703-709. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.0151.x
[29]	De Santo-Madeya, S., Nilsson, M., Loggers, E.T., Paulk, E., Stieglitz, H., Kupersztoch, Y.M. and Prigerson, H.G. (2009) Associations between United States Acculturation and the End-of-Life Experience of Caregivers of Patients with Advanced Cancer. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 12, 1143-1149. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2009.0063
[30]	Andresen, J. (2001) Cultural Competence and Health Care: Japanese, Korean and Indian Patients in the United States. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 8, 109-121.
[31]	Searight, H.R. and Gafford, J. (2005) It’s Like Playing with Your Destiny: Bosnian Immigrants’ Views of Advance Directives and End-of-Life Decision-Making. Journal of Immigrant Health, 7, 195-203. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10903-005-3676-7
[32]	Hepburn, K. and Reed, R. (1995) Ethical and Clinical Issues with Native-American Elders. End-of-life Decision Making. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine, 11, 97-111.
[33]	Berkman, C.S. and Ko, E. (2009) Preferences for Disclosure of Information about Serious Illness among Older Korean American Immigrants in New York City. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 12, 351-357. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2008.0236
[34]	Mitchell, J.L. (1998) Cross-Cultural Issues in the Disclosure of Cancer. Cancer Practice, 6, 153-160. http://dx.doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-5394.1998.006003153.x
[35]	Zhang, A.Y., Zyzanski, S.J. and Siminoff, L.A. (2012) Ethnic Differences in the Caregiver’s Attitudes and Preferences about the Treatment and Care of Advanced Lung Cancer Patients. Psycho-Oncology, 21, 1250-1253. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pon.2031
[36]	Jean-Pierre, P., Fiscella, K., Griggs, J., Joseph, J.V., Morrow, G., Carroll, J., Hendren, S., Purnell, J., Figueroa-Moseley, C., Kuebler, P., Banerjee, T.K. and Kirshner, J.J. (2010) Race/Ethnicity-Based Concerns over Understanding Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Plan. Journal of the National Medical Association, 102, 184-189.
[37]	Surbone, A. (1993) The Information to the Cancer Patient: Psychosocial and Spiritual Implications. Supportive Care in Cancer, 1, 89-91. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00366901
[38]	Berkman, C.S. and Ko, E. (2010) What and When Korean American Older Adults Want to Know about Serious Illness. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 28, 244-259. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07347331003689029
[39]	Rao, A.S., Desphande, O.M., Jamoona, C. and Reid, C.M. (2008) Elderly Indo-Caribbean Hindus and End-of-Life Care: A Community-Based Exploratory Study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 56, 1129-1133. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2008.01723.x
[40]	Gotay, C.C., Shimizu, H., Muraoka, M., Ishihara, Y., Tsuboi, K. and Ogawa, H. (2004) Cancer-Related Attitudes: A Comparative Study in Japan and the US. Psycho-Oncology, 13, 665-672. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/pon.792
[41]	Dohan, D. and Levintova, M. (2007) Barriers beyond Words: Cancer, Culture and Translation in a Community of Russian Speakers. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 22, 300-305. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11606-007-0325-y
[42]	Matsuyama, R.K., Grange, C., Lyckholm, L.J., Utsey, S.O. and Smith, T.J. (2007) Cultural Perceptions in Cancer Care among African-American and Caucasian Patients. Journal of the National Medical Association, 99, 1113-1118.
[43]	Duffy, S.A., Jackson, F.C., Schim, S.M., Ronis, D.L. and Fowler, K.E. (2006) Racial/Ethnic Preferences, Sex Preferences and Perceived Discrimination Related to End-of-Life Care. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 54, 150-157. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.00526.x
[44]	Braun, K., Pietsch, J.H. and Blanchette, P.L. (Eds.) (2000) Cultural Issues in End-of-Life Decision Making. Sage, Thousand Oaks.