Abstract:

Background: As in other low - and middle-income countries, there is a strong interest in discussing prognostic information among cancer patients in Tanzania. This study investigated the association between unmet supportive needs, shared decision-making and prognostic awareness among cancer patients attending at Bugando Medical Centre in Tanzania.

Method: a descriptive cross-section study was conducted at BMC consisted of 295 cancer patients attending clinic at BMC. The sample participants were selected by convenience sampling method and Data were gathered through a standardized questionnaire consisting of several measurement scales. The gathered data were transferred into the Microsoft Excel 2013 for cleaning, thereafter were exported to SPSS for data analysis. Both descriptive statistics such as mean and inferential statistics such as confidence range were employed in data analysis. Ethical approval was sought from joint CUHAS-BMC research and ethics review committee and data collection permission was granted by Director General at BMC.

Result: finding of this study revealed that the prevalence of prognostic awareness among participants was 90.8%, the prevalence of unmet supportive care needs among cancer patients attending clinic at Bugando Medical was 67% and the prevalence of involvement in shared decision-making among cancer patients attending clinic at Bugando Medical Centre was 57% moreover the finding revelead that there is association between prognostic awareness and shared decision making.

Conclusion: Unmet supportive care needs are prevalent among cancer patients attending cancer clinic at Bugando Medical centre particularly in psychological and physical aspect of daily living, these finding provide valuable insight about the range of resources, multidisciplinary linkages and referral pathways needed to address cancer patient unmet needs.