Communication Patterns in Advanced Cancer Decision-Making Consultations

Sixteen audio-recorded consultations between patients with advanced cancer and medical oncologists were analyzed from January to March 2019. The dataset contains themes and illustrative quotations characterizing communication patterns. It was created by Daisy J.M. Ermers and shared via figshare.

Use Cases

• Identify communication themes like 'balancing hope and realism' from coded transcripts.
• Analyze quotations illustrating the 'medical oncologist’s leading medical perspective' in decision-making.
• Study the relationship between the 'shared focus on anticancer treatment' theme and other identified patterns.

Strengths

• Data is derived from 16 real clinical consultations, providing authentic interaction examples.
• Analysis generated four distinct, named themes characterizing communication patterns.
• Dataset is openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0 for reuse.

Limitations

• Small sample size of 16 consultations limits generalizability of findings.
• Data originates from a single Dutch tertiary center, introducing geographic and institutional bias.
• Qualitative thematic analysis is inherently interpretive, not quantitative.

Provenance

Source

Qualitative observational study in a Dutch tertiary referral center.

Collection Method

Audio-recorded consultations analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.

Time Range

January to March 2019.

Freshness

Consultations recorded in early 2019; dataset last updated in 2026.

Geography

Netherlands (single tertiary referral center).