br Twenty AOPSS items were selected

Twenty AOPSS items were selected a priori because of their theoretical value in potentially being significantly associated with CISP (Table 2 for details). Significant omnibus chi-square tests were conducted to test for potential information-seeking group differ-ences on the dichotomous AOPSS items, followed by a post-hoc procedure comparing the adjusted standardized residuals across cells. Being an Intense seeker was related to being significantly less
Interestingly, all CISP groups were most dissatisfied with the lack of support received on possible changes in their relationship with a spouse or partner, with intense seekers being the most dissatisfied, χ2 as (4, N = 1328) = 34.36, p < 0.001. Four of the five CISP groups gave highest agreement ratings when asked if they Ferrostatin-1 knew whom they could talk with when they had questions or concerns (98%, 100%, 100%, and 100% endorsements). However, for intense seekers - only 57% reported knowing who to talk to for unmet needs.
One-way ANOVAs with a post hoc Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons were conducted to compare CISP according to AOPSS items that had a 4-point “continuous” scale (1= Never to 4 = Always). Intense seekers were significantly more likely to report receiving confusing or contradictory information [F(4, 2096) = 15.451, p < .001], not knowing who to ask questions about their health problems [F(4, 2096) = 29.414, p <.001], being least satisfied with care coordination [F(4,1648) = 23.052, p <.001], when compared to the four CISP groups. When asked if they knew whom to talk to when they had questions or concerns, intense seekers (43%) were least likely to know where to find the support they needed.
4. Discussion and conclusion
A diagnosis of cancer often triggers fears, uncertainty, and distress that is conventionally thought to be alleviated by
Fig. 1. Cancer Information-Seeking Preferences.
Table 2
AOPSS Items by Cancer Information-Seeking Preferences (N = 2,142).
Intense Complementary Fortuitous Minimal / Guarded
seekers seekers seekers Uninterested /Avoiders
AOPSS Items Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Comfortable talking with providers about complementary/alt therapies (if 50%*** 87% 91% 90% 82%
applicable)
Note: p-values were obtained from the chi-square distribution associated with adjusted standardized residuals for each cell.
cancer-related information searches [18]. In fact, much of the literature to date on adaptive coping focuses on active informa-tion-seeking by patients. However, increasingly this assumption is put into question with distinct preferences having adaptive potential [18,21]. Herein, we document the prevalence of distinct cancer information-seeking preferences and their relative links to patient experiences and satisfaction with cancer care.
A key finding is that nearly 40% of a large cohort of patients having received cancer treatment within the last six months report being uninterested or purposely avoiding cancer information altogether. The prevalence of cancer information avoidance in patients is much larger than what had been previously thought - putting into question the long held clinical assumption that patients desire information when faced with a cancer diagnosis [33–35]. A recent review by Golman et al [21], in fact, shows that avoidance of self-relevant information is common. The authors underscore that even when information is free and likely to lead to better decisions, some individuals still purposefully avoid it [36– 39]. Obviously, when facing a serious illness such as cancer, biases in information-seeking can have deleterious effects [40,41], such as in early cancer detection phases (e.g., when the presence of a tumor is ignored) [42,43], when undergoing treatment (e.g., not acting on serious side effects) [44] or in the survivorship period (e.g., not following up on potential signs of a cancer recurrence). Therefore, taken together, these preferences can have profound effects not only on the patient experience with cancer but also on satisfaction with cancer care services received.