Interviewing on life threatening issues for research purposes

Abstract

Interviewing is increasingly used in health services research to examine in depth the outcomes of treatment, quality of life issues and other health parameters. In this article we examine several problems generated when researchers use interviewing to explore life threatening issues such as cancer and other terminal conditions. We discuss whether the interview itself can be considered as an “intervention”, whether the interviewing process may have a detrimental effect on the patient, and situations where the interview can create distress or disrupt the patient’s coping strategy. The research interview may partially substitute counseling and the researchers may face ethical dilemmas when they are at the same time involved in the clinical care of the patients they are interviewing. The research interview is a complex issue that needs a careful and well designed approach to achieve the research objectives without harming the patient or the clinician-patient relationship.