Walsh and colleagues’ systematic review found no evidence that the use of patient decision aids saves costs. The accompanying editorial by Katz concluded that there is “no compelling reason to prioritise research on the potential role of patient decision support in reducing budgets.” We agree that these areas should not be a top priority for research into patient decision aids. However, Katz er...

OBJECTIVES Choosing Wisely is a remarkable physician-led campaign to reduce unnecessary or harmful health services. Some of the literature identifies Choosing Wisely as a shared decision-making approach. We evaluated the patient materials developed by Choosing Wisely Canada to determine whether they meet the criteria for shared decision-making tools known as patient decision aids. DESIGN Desc...

       Background: As part of the process of developing a decision aid for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) according to the Ottawa Decision Support Framework, we were interested in the level of ‘decisional conflict’ of hand surgeons and patients with CTS. This study addresses the null hypothesis that there is no difference between surgeon and patient decisional conflict with respect to test and tr...

BACKGROUND In 2005, the International Patient Decision Aids Standards Collaboration identified twelve quality dimensions to guide assessment of patient decision aids. One dimension-the delivery of patient decision aids on the Internet-is relevant when the Internet is used to provide some or all components of a patient decision aid. Building on the original background chapter, this paper provide...

Tort-based doctrines of informed consent have utterly failed to assure that patients understand the risks, benefits, and alternatives healthcare they receive. Fifty years experience with doctrine shown it be an abject catastrophe. Most lack even minimal understanding their treatment options. But there is hope. Substantial evidence shows patient decision aids (PDAs) shared making can bridge ...

PURPOSE To describe the effect of decision aids on the choice for surgery and knowledge of surgical therapy among women with early-stage breast cancer. METHODS A systematic review was conducted between years 1966 to 2006 of all studies designed to assess the effect of decision aids on surgical therapy. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), the Cochrane Netwo...

For medical decisions with more than one reasonable option, patient participation in decision making is often necessary to optimally match management decisions with patient preferences. Health decision aids are designed to facilitate shared decision making by helping patients and their physicians choose among reasonable clinical options. Although these aids vary in content, common denominators ...