Prognostic Understanding in Advanced Cancer Patients

This chapter provides an overview of prognostic understanding in patients with advanced cancer. It reviews how the construct has been defined and measured historically, including current research on the multidimensional nature of prognostic understanding. It further highlights the importance of prognostic understanding for patients and their loved ones. Specifically, this chapter reviews the relationship between prognostic understanding and psychosocial outcomes, as well as the role of prognostic understanding in patient health information preferences, patient-provider communication, and healthcare decision-making at the end of life. It provides information on current communication practices and recent interventions to improve disclosure of prognostic information. Lastly, cultural variations in health information preferences and prognostic understanding are discussed, along with future directions for research and clinical practice.