A Narrative Review of the range of expediency in using white lies in patient care

Being in a position to use white lies is the most experimental challenge for the treatment team. The definitions of expediency in using white lies vary from person to person. Understanding these definitions is an effective step in providing patients with the right treatment. The aim of this study was to review the research conducted on the use of white lies to examine patient care.

In this narrative review, by  using the keywords of  White lies, Care and Truth Telling for search in international and Persian database like MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, PsychINFO, SID, Magiran, Google scholar, PubMed, ProQuest and Scopus was designed by “Tittle search method” without time limiting. The articles which were not consistent with the purpose of study and were case report or letter to editor articles were excluded. Out of 3114 searched articles, 12 were selected. To extract data, all the final articles, included in the process of study, were extracted from a pre-made checklist.

In the present study, 12 qualitative and descriptive articles were examined. The findings of these articles were presented in two parts: patient expediency and the expediency of the treatment team. The focus of the use of lies to maintain the patientchr('39')s interest in preventing injury to the patient and in the interest of the treatment team was determined by the lack of adequate communication skills.

According to the findings, the use of white lies was to achieve the right position to present the truth. In this regard, providing appropriate guidelines according to the culture of the care platform, therapeutic goal and according to the level of understanding of patients can be used to improve the individual skills of caregivers to provide information. In the field of research, the findings of this study can pave the way for other quantitative and qualitative research on the use of white lies and their consequences.