***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: OBJECTIVE The aims of the study were to assess factors responsible for the reduction of preoperative anxiety in patients undergoing breast and abdominal surgeries . In particular , we investigated whether question prompt lists ( QPL ) , patients ' knowledge , or the communication skills of surgeons had effects on anxiety reduction . METHODS Patients were r and omly assigned to QPL and control groups .  Anxiety was assessed on the State Trait Anxiety Inventory . RESULTS Both groups showed significant reduction in anxiety between initial consultation and one day prior to surgery , with QPL patients showing a trend towards a greater reduction of anxiety after surgery and a significant reduction at the first outpatient follow-up . Satisfaction with consultation and the doctor 's ability to answer questions concerning diagnosis , and treatment were significantly associated with anxiety reduction . CONCLUSION Effective anxiety reduction hinged on doctors ' communication abilities and patients ' satisfaction with the consultation Active participation in the medical consultation has been demonstrated to benefit aspects of patients ’ subsequent psychological well-being . We investigated two interventions promoting patient question -asking behaviour . The first was a question prompt sheet provided before the consultation , which was endorsed and worked through by the clinician . The second was a face to face coaching session exploring the benefits of , and barriers to , question -asking , followed by coaching in question -asking behaviour employing rehearsal techniques .  Sixty patients with heterogeneous cancers , seeing two medical oncologists for the first time , were r and omly assigned to one of three groups : two intervention groups and one control group .  Sociodemographic variables and anxiety were assessed prior to the intervention which preceded the consultation . The consultations were audiotaped and subsequently analysed for question -asking behaviour . Anxiety was assessed again immediately following the consultation . Question naires to assess patient satisfaction , anxiety and psychological adjustment were sent by mail 2 weeks following the consultation . Presentation and discussion of the prompt sheet significantly increased the total number of questions asked and the number of questions asked regarding tests and treatment . Coaching did not add significantly to the effects of the prompt sheet . Psychological outcomes were not different among the groups . We conclude that a question prompt sheet addressed by the doctor is a simple , inexpensive and effective means of promoting patient question asking in the cancer consultation Patient participation in medical consultations has been demonstrated to benefit their subsequent psychological well being . Question asking is one way in which patients can be active . We investigated 2 means of promoting cancer patient  question asking . One was the provision of a question prompt sheet to patients prior to their initial consultation with their oncologist .  The second was the active endorsement and systematic review of the question prompt sheet by their oncologist . 318 patients with heterogeneous cancers , seeing one of 5 medical and 4 radiation oncologists for the first time , were r and omised to either receive or not receive a question prompt sheet . Doctors were r and omised to either proactively address or passively respond to the question prompt sheet in the subsequent consultation . Anxiety was assessed prior to the consultation . Consultations were audiotaped and content analysed . Anxiety was assessed again immediately following the consultation . Within the next 10 days patients completed question naires assessing information needs , anxiety and satisfaction and were given a structured telephone interview assessing information recall . Patients provided with a question prompt sheet asked more questions about prognosis compared with controls and oncologists gave significantly more prognostic information to these patients . Provision of the question prompt sheet prolonged consultations and increased patient anxiety ; however , when oncologists specifically addressed the prompt sheet , anxiety levels were significantly reduced , consultation duration was decreased and recall was significantly improved . A patient question prompt sheet , used proactively by the doctor , is a powerful addition to the oncology consultation . © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign Background . This investigation examined factors affecting  patient involvement in consultations to decide local treatment for early breast cancer and the effectiveness of two methods of preconsultation education aim ed at increasing patient participation in these discussion This study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of using a computer intervention to enhance communication between healthcare professionals and women with breast cancer . Additional aims were to measure the extent to which women achieved their preferred decisional roles and satisfaction with the clinical medical appointment . This two-arm r and omized clinical trial design included a convenience sample of 749 women with breast cancer attending 3 urban Canadian outpatient oncology clinics . Most women were older than 50 years and had a high school diploma or greater ( 57 % ) . Women in the control group completed measures of decision preference before their clinic appointments . Women in the intervention group were encouraged to use the information and decision preference profiles generated by the computer program at their clinic appointments .  Levels of involvement in decision making and satisfaction were measured after the clinic appointments . Results showed that although the majority of women in both groups did assume their preferred roles in decision making , a significantly higher proportion of women in the intervention group reported playing a more passive role than originally planned . Both groups reported high satisfaction levels . Future research is required to study how this computer intervention could be used by clinicians to provide information and decision support to these women The purpose of this study was to determine the helpfulness of a prompt sheet versus a general information sheet for patient communication with physicians . Sixty women with breast cancer attending their first outpatient consultation with a breast medical oncologist were r and omized to receive either a prompt sheet ( PS ) or a general information ( GI ) sheet regarding breast cancer . Analysis of the results found that helpfulness of the written material was rated higher in the PS group ( 8.5 + /- 2 ) than the GI group ( 6.2 + /- 3.6 ) , P = 0.005 . The mean score of helpfulness in communicating with physicians was 7.9 + /- 2.4 and 5.7 + /- 3.8 , respectively , P = 0.01 . There were no significant differences between the groups in the average total number of questions asked by the patients or average physician or patient speaking time . We conclude that a disease-specific prompt sheet provided before medical encounters may assist in communication between patients and physicians OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to evaluate the patients ' perception of the usefulness of a question prompt sheet ( QPS ) in facilitating the involvement of advanced cancer patients during consultation . METHODS Advanced cancer patients attending their first consultation after diagnosis were r and omly assigned to the intervention group ( received QPS and a hospital introduction sheet ( HIS ) ) or the control group ( received HIS only ) . Analysis was conducted on an intention-to-treat basis . The primary outcome measure was patient rating of the usefulness of the material ( s ) ( numerical rating scale of 0 - 10 ) . RESULTS Sixty-three advanced cancer patients ( 72.4 % response rate ) were enrolled and analyzed . Nearly three-quarters of patients in both groups read the material ( s ) before consultation . The rated usefulness of the material ( s ) for asking questions of physicians was significantly higher in the intervention group than in controls ( 4.4 ± 3.6 and 2.7 ± 2.8 , respectively ; p = 0.033 ) . The mean score of the usefulness of the material ( s ) for underst and ing the treatment plan tended to be higher in the intervention group than in the controls ( 4.9 ± 3.6 and 3.3 ± 2.8 ; p = 0.051 ) . The mean score of willingness to use the material ( s ) in the future was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the controls ( 5.3 ± 3.8 and 2.8 ± 2.8 ; p = 0.006 ) . There were no significant differences between the groups in the average total number of questions asked by patients ( median , 1.0 ; interquartile range in both groups , 2.0 ) . CONCLUSIONS QPS provided before oncology consultation may be useful for advanced cancer patients , on the other h and , it did not directly promote patient confidence to ask questions A r and omized pre- and post-test control group design was conducted in 12 oncology wards to investigate the effectiveness of an intervention , existing of a communication skills training with web-enabled video feedback and a Question Prompt Sheet ( QPS ) , which aim ed to improve patient education to older cancer patients ( ≥65 years ) . The effects were studied by analyzing question naires and video recordings of patient education sessions preceding chemotherapy with 210 different patients .  Patients ' recall of information was the primary outcome of the study . Recall was checked against the actual communication in the video-recordings . Moreover , communication skills were assessed by observing the extent to which nurses implemented 67 communication aspects , categorized in seven dimensions , using the QUOTE(chemo ) . Experimental nurses demonstrated a significant intervention effect on communicating realistic expectations . Within-group improvements were measured in the experimental group for tailored communication , affective communication and interpersonal communication . Although the use of a QPS significantly increased question asking , only limited results were found on older patients ' recall scores . The overall proportion recall of recommendations showed a marginally significant pre-/post-change in proportion recall in favour of the experimental group and there was a significant pre-/post-change in two out of six sub-categories . The results indicate that  nurses ' communication skills can be improved by communication skills training . More research is needed to underst and the difficult relationship between patient-provider communication and recall of information PURPOSE To determine whether provision of a question prompt list ( QPL ) influences advanced cancer patients ' /caregivers ' questions and discussion of topics relevant to end-of-life care during consultations with a palliative care ( PC ) physician . PATIENTS AND METHODS This r and omized controlled trial included patients r and omly assigned to st and ard consultation or provision of QPL before consultation , with endorsement of the QPL by the physician during the consultation . Consecutive eligible patients with advanced cancer referred to 15 PC physicians from nine Australian PC services were invited to participate . Consultations were audiotaped , transcribed , and analyzed by blinded coders ; patients completed question naires before , within 24 hours , and 3 weeks after the consultation . RESULTS A total of 174 patients participated ( 92 QPL , 82 control ) . Compared with controls , QPL patients and caregivers asked twice as many questions ( for patients , ratio , 2.3 ; 95 % CI , 1.7 to 3.2 ; P < .0001 ) , and patients discussed 23 % more issues covered by the QPL ( 95 % CI , 11 % to 37 % ; P < .0001 ) . QPL patients asked more prognostic questions ( ratio , 2.3 ; 95 % CI , 1.3 to 4.0 ; P = .004 ) and discussed more prognostic ( ratio , 1.43 ; 95 % CI , 1.1 to 1.8 , P = .003 ) and end-of-life issues ( 30 % v 10 % ; P = .001 ) . Fewer QPL patients had unmet information needs about the future ( 21 = 4.14 ; P = .04 ) , which was the area of greatest unmet information need . QPL consultations ( average , 38 minutes ) were longer ( P = .002 ) than controls ( average , 31 minutes ) . No differences between groups were observed in anxiety or patient/physician satisfaction . CONCLUSION Providing a QPL and physician endorsement of its use assists terminally ill cancer patients and their caregivers to ask questions and promotes discussion about prognosis and end-of-life issues , without creating patient anxiety or impairing satisfaction This study aims to develop and pilot a question prompt sheet to assist esophageal cancer patients to obtain desired information in the consultation in which potentially curative esophagectomy is discussed . Whether a prompt sheet affected patients ' question asking , the number and scope of topics discussed , the length of the consultation , and patients ' satisfaction is investigated . Patients ( n= 30 ) were r and omized either to receive care as usual ( control group ) or to receive a prompt sheet ( intervention group ) . All patients completed a baseline question naire , their consultations were audio-recorded and content-coded , and they received a structured telephone interview 2 days after the consultation to assess satisfaction . Patients provided with the prompt sheet marked a median of 19 questions . They asked significantly more questions as compared with patients in the control group ( median of 12 vs. 8 questions ) . Questions mainly addressed treatment options and procedures . No differences were found with regard to consultation length and patient satisfaction . Our results suggest that providing patients with a simple , easy-to-implement tool such as a question prompt is appreciated and helps patients to ask more questions during the consultation without increasing the length of the consultation OBJECTIVE Does decision navigation ( DN ) increase prostate cancer patients '  confidence and certainty in treatment decisions , while reducing regret associated with the decisions made ? METHODS Two hundred eighty-nine newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients were eligible . 123 consented and were r and omised to usual care  ( n = 60 ) or navigation ( n = 63 ) . The intervention involved a ' navigator ' guiding the patient in creating a personal question list for a consultation and providing a CD and typed summary of the consultation to patients , the general practitioner and physician . The primary outcome was decisional self efficacy . Secondary outcomes included decisional conflict ( DCS ) and decisional regret ( RS ) . Measures of mood ( Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale ) and adjustment ( Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale ) were included to detect potential adverse effects of the intervention . RESULTS ANOVA showed a main effect for the group ( F = 7.161 , df 1 , p = 0.009 ) . Post hoc comparisons showed significantly higher decisional self efficacy in the navigated patients post-consultation and 6 months later . Decisional conflict was lower for navigated patients initially ( t = 2.005 , df = 105 , p = 0.047 ) , not at follow-up ( t = 1.969 , df = 109 , p = 0.052 ) . Regret scores were significantly lower in the navigation group compared to the controls 6 months later ( t = -2.130 , df = 100 , p = 0.036 ) . There was no impact of the intervention on mood or adjustment . CONCLUSION Compared to control patients , navigated patients were more confident in making decisions about cancer treatment , were more certain they had made the right decision after the consult 
    Output:
    
The majority of QPL interventions were given to patients before their consultation in hardcopy .
It is suggested that characteristics of a QPL intervention ( i.e. , the number of questions on a QPL and provider training ) can influence its effectiveness .
Question Prompt List interventions are effective in improving communication , psychological and cognitive outcomes of cancer patients