How and Why was the Truth Told to the Patients?

Yuji Sawaguchi

Asahikawa Kosei Hospital

I started to tell the patients the truth about their cancers in 1992 without considering their backgrounds. The family of the patients had not been consulted about the disease before telling the patient the truth. This method was different from the former custom in Japan but it made it easier for them to understand the information about their condition, the complications and the life after the operation than the previous method. As a result, the number of admission on anxiety about the disease decreased. The mean number of days of patients with gastric cancer in the hospital became 41 from over 69. That of the patients with rectal cancer changed 54 from about 90. The patients who had recurrences easily accepted the treatment. It became unnecessary to write a counterfeit name of the disease on insurance claim forms. It is important that we should not give only the exact name of the disease but its sugsequent treatment.

Key words
informed consent

Reprint requests
Yuji Sawaguchi Department of Surgery, Asahikawa Kosei Hospital
24-111 Ichijodori, Asahikawa, 078 JAPAN

Accepted
June 12, 1996

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