Nearly three-quarters of patients with advanced cancer preferred doctors who communicated with them face-to-face while holding a notepad rather than repeatedly using a computer, according to the results of a randomized controlled study scheduled for presentation at the Palliative and Supportive Care in Oncology Symposium.

“Our research highlights a very important aspect of doctor-patient communication: how cancer patients perceive their doctors when they use an examination room computer during visits,” Ali Haider, MD, assistant professor of palliative, rehabilitation and integrative medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said during a press conference. “Because patients with cancer often experience high physical and psychosocial symptoms, it is very important for doctors to monitor certain physical cues to gain knowledge about their patients’ well-being.”