Medical Journal of The Islamic Republic of Iran (MJIRI)

 Abstract

 Background: Effective patient–professional communication can be of crucial

 importance to long-term psycho-social outcomes in patients with cancer. A cross sectional

 study was conducted to examine cancer patients' satisfaction with regard to

 various aspects of communication and information given by nurses.

 Methods: A proportional stratified sampling method was done and data collected

 via face-to-face interview based on a validated Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire

 (PSQ) during a 3 month period. A total of 384 patients aged 14 years old and above

 were selected.

 Results: The majority of respondents were males (52.3%) and married (66.4%),

 working (52.6%) and age group 45-54 year (26.6%) with secondary education level

 (44.8%), and 53.1% of them admitted at teaching hospitals of government A University

 of Medical Science. The findings revealed that a vast majority of respondents

 (81.5%) were satisfied with communication and information given by nurses, while

 the others (18.5%) not. There was significant relationship between patients’

 satisfaction and age group (p ≤ 0.05). Also, the age groups of 15-44 years old and

 married patients were the best predictors for level of cancer patients’ satisfaction

 with communication, and information given by nurses.

 Conclusion: Key findings are a number of issues with regard to information and

 communication which can be clearly improved within teaching hospitals of in

 Tehran city. The study concluded that patient– professional communication should

 be tailored to meet individual need.