Most cancer patients, such as full access to files

NEW YORK - Cancer patients who were given full access to their medical records at the beginning of the said treatment records helped to understand and discuss their disease with others, and they were not more concerned than other patients in a new study of the France.

There was a tendency to improve patient access to their own health information, some physicians fear that give full records patients will increase their anxiety, the authors note in the journal Cancer.

But Dave deBronkart, a prominent blogger on the participation of the patient since his own recovery from advanced kidney cancer, argues that full access is useful.

deBronkart, who blogs as "e-patient Dave", told Reuters Health via e-mail, "detailed information on the disease are important for the patient to make informed decisions." It also allows the patient and his family to cope better. ?

Participants in the new study included approximately 300 patients who had been recently diagnosed with cancer of the breast, cancer of the colon and lymphoma and started chemotherapy treatment.

Dr. Gwenaelle Gravis of the Paoli-Calmettes Institute in Marseille and colleagues randomly these patients in both groups.

In a group, patients received information in the usual manner for their institution - doctors could give patients their medical records if they chose, and patients may ask to see records on their own. In the other group, all patients who have accepted received their full medical records in a Briefcase with a user guide and were said to carry the Briefcase appointments so that records could be continuously updated.

In the beginning, middle and the end of the treatment, the researchers asked patients about their level of anxiety. Also, they gave participants a survey on quality of life and has asked on their understanding of their disease and treatment experience.

Anxiety levels were not different between the groups at any time during the treatment, and patients in both groups have also reported a quality of life like at the beginning and the end of chemotherapy.

Well that more than patients who received their full medical records saying that they were completely satisfied with the information they received and feel fully informed, this trend was not passed statistical tests to show a difference between groups.

The majority of patients who have received their complete medical record, said that the records helped to understand their disease in more detail and discuss with family members and physicians.

About 70 per cent of them said that if they had the choice to go back, they would receive their full file again.

Some patients complained that Briefcase with their records was too heavy to carry, or that its color was"inadequate", and a few others, has stated that they had insufficient information, or that it is difficult to organize the information that was there.

Gravis and his colleagues noted that giving patients a full access to their medical records could help foster confidence in their doctors in the long term, and it was easy to do.

deBronkart says he is "sick of people being in the institution, regardless of what say patients we want, think it is in our own interest if they make that decision for us."

"There is evidence that the majority of patients with cancer would like to receive as much information as possible", he added.

The authors cautioned that most of the patients had stage cancer with a good prognosis, and the results may not apply to patients of different types of cancer.

Peter Schmidt, Chief Information Officer at the National Foundation of Parkinson, who was not involved in the study, said it may also be useful for patients to have access to an "Adviser to medical records", because some files may have confusion of information.

Researchers have said that a study is needed on the responses of patients to access medical documented in other situations and circumstances - including in the context of electronic medical records, which could allow easy patientsconfidential access to the House.

They concluded that in this study at least, "allowing full access to the folders medical personal satisfaction increased without increasing anxiety in patients with newly diagnosed cancer.".