Communicating uncertainty can lead to less decision satisfaction: a necessary cost of involving patients in shared decision making?

Politi, Mary C., Clark, Melissa A., Ombao, Hernando, Dizon, Don and Elwyn, Glyn ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0917-6286 2011. Communicating uncertainty can lead to less decision satisfaction: a necessary cost of involving patients in shared decision making? Health Expectations 14 (1) , pp. 84-91. 10.1111/j.1369-7625.2010.00626.x

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Background Given the large number of interventions of uncertain effectiveness, research on communicating uncertainty is needed to examine its impact on patients’ health decisions. Objective To examine physicians’ communication of uncertainty and its impact on patients’ decisions and decision satisfaction. Design, setting, and participants Participants included female patients seen in a breast health centre whose physicians were discussing a decision with them, with no clear ‘best’ choice based on outcome evidence. Main variables Decision communication was measured using the OPTION scale, a measure of the degree to which physicians involve patients in a decision-making process. One-to-two weeks after the discussion, patients reported their satisfaction with the decision-making process and their decision. Decisions were verified in medical charts with patient consent. Results Seventy-five women agreed to participate (94% response rate). The mean translated score of the OPTION scale was 68.0 (SD 18.3), but only 33.2 (SD 19.1) for the uncertainty items. Among cancer patients, communicating uncertainty was negatively related to decision satisfaction (P < 0.002), and there was an interaction between patient involvement in decisions and communicating uncertainty in relation to patients’ decision satisfaction (P < 0.03). Discussion Communicating scientific uncertainty might lead to less decision satisfaction among women facing cancer treatment decisions; this could be a natural outcome of the decision making process. Involving patients in decisions might help them tolerate uncertainty. Conclusion Future studies should consider assessing other outcomes (e.g. knowledge, physician support) of the decision making process. There may be trade-offs between acknowledging uncertainty and immediate decision satisfaction.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine
Uncontrolled Keywords:	decision support, patient-physician communication, shared decision making, uncertainty
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	1369-6513
Last Modified:	20 Oct 2022 07:47
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/26420

Citation Data

Cited 136 times in Scopus. View in Scopus. Powered By Scopus® Data

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item