Information needs, decisional regret and satisfaction of older and younger adults with acute myeloid leukemia

ObjectivesPatients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) can often feel overwhelmed at having to make a difficult and time-sensitive treatment decision in this life-threatening illnes. We sought to explore information needs, control preferences, decisional regret, and decisional satisfaction in adult patients with AML and to explore differences by age group.MethodsWe recruited 35 consecutive English-speaking patients with recently diagnosed AML, evenly split between older ( age 60+, n = 17) and younger (n = 18) adults. We administered questionnaires including the satisfaction with decision making scale, decisional regret scale, control preferences scale, and quality of life questions at one or two key time points: start of chemotherapy, end of induction chemotherapy, and end of intensive chemotherapy.Results52% of patients preferred a passive decision-making role. Most patients (80%) achieved their preferred decision-making role. Overall decisional satisfaction scores were high and regret scores were low, but there was a trend toward less satisfaction with more passive decision-making roles (p = 0.066). Most patients had a high level of trust in their physician. Physicians and nurses were reported as the most useful sources of information. There were no significant differences in any of these outcomes by age group. Quality of life and fatigue were also similar among older and younger patients.DiscussionThese findings demonstrate similarities in information and decisional issues in older and younger adults with AML and highlight the need for further study of decisional regret and satisfaction over time in this patient population.