Using patient decision aids to promote evidence-based decision making.

Evidence-based medicine integrates clinical experience with patients’ values and the best available evidence. In the past, clinicians took responsibility not only for being well informed about the benefits and harms of medical options but also for judging their value in the best interests of the patients. More recently, a shared decision making approach has been advocated in which patients are recognised as the best experts for judging values. Evidence-based decision aids are being developed and evaluated to supplement clinicians’ counselling regarding values and sensitive options so that patients can understand the probable consequences of options, consider the value they place on the consequences, and participate actively with their clinician in selecting the best option for them. This editorial provides a brief overview of patient decision aids by defining them, identifying situations when they may be needed, describing their efficacy, and discussing practical issues in using them in clinical practice.