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Review
. 2022 Sep 23;87(1):0104.
doi: 10.5935/0004-2749.2022-0104. eCollection 2022.

Breaking bad news in ophthalmology: a literature review

Cecília Francini Cabral de Vasconcellos  1 , Marina Cruz Pellissari  1 , Olivia Araujo Zin  1 , Mariana Valim Salles  1 , Juliana Maria Ferraz Sallum  1 , José Paulo Cabral de Vasconcellos  2
Affiliations
Review

Breaking bad news in ophthalmology: a literature review

Cecília Francini Cabral de Vasconcellos et al. Arq Bras Oftalmol. .

Abstract
in English, Portuguese

Medical specialties have recognized that breaking bad news assists clinical practice by mitigating the impact of difficult conversations. This scenario also encourages various studies on breaking bad news in ophthalmology since certain ocular diagnoses can be considered bad news. Thus, the objective is to review the scientific literature on breaking bad news in ophthalmology. The literature databases like MEDLINE/PUBMED, EMBASE, LILACS, SCOPUS, COCHRANE, and SCIELO, were screened for related research publications. Two independent reviewers read all the articles and short-listed the most relevant ones. Seven articles, in the formats of original article, review, editorial, oral communication, and correspondence, were reviewed. Conclusively it reveals that ophthalmologists are concerned with communicating bad news effectively but lack related studies. Nevertheless, there is a growing realization that training in breaking bad news can increase physicians' confidence during communication, thus, benefiting the therapeutic relationship with the patient and his family. Therefore, it would be valuable to include breaking bad news training in the curriculum of residencies.

O reconhecimento sobre a comunicação de más notícias como mitigadora de conversas difíceis por outras especialidades médicas, incentiva o estudo desta temática na oftalmologia. Sendo assim, o objetivo deste estudo é revisar a produção de pesquisas científicas sobre a comunicação de más notícias em oftalmologia. Para isso, foi realizada uma revisão de literatura. As bases de dados utilizadas foram MEDLINE/PUBMED, EMBASE, LILACS, SCOPUS, COCHRANE e SCIELO. Dois revisores independentes leram todos os artigos e selecionaram a amostra final. Sete artigos foram escolhidos nos formatos de artigo original, revisão, editorial, comunicação oral e correspondência. Os oftalmologistas estão preocupados em comunicar as más notícias de forma eficaz, mas faltam estudos sobre o tema. No entanto, há uma crescente percepção de que o treinamento de comunicação de más notícias aumenta a confiança dos médicos na comunicação, beneficiando a relação terapêutica. Portanto, seria valioso incluir este treinamento no currículo das residências.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest: None of the authors have any potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Depiction of the literature review fowchart
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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