Abstract
BackgroundWe sought to estimate the extent of decision regret among primary care patients and identify risk factors associated with regret.MethodsSecondary analysis of an observational descriptive study conducted in two Canadian provinces. Unique patient-physician dyads were recruited from 17 primary care clinics and data on patient, physician and consultation characteristics were collected before, during and immediately after consultations, as well as two weeks post-consultation, when patients completed the Decision Regret Scale (DRS). We examined the DRS score distribution and performed ordinal logistic regression analysis to identify predictors of regret.ResultsAmong 258 unique patient-physicians dyads, mean ± standard deviation of decision regret scores was 11.7 ± 15.1 out of 100. Overall, 43 % of patients reported no regret, 45 % reported mild regret and 12 % reported moderate to strong regret. In multivariate analyses, higher decision regret was strongly associated with increased decisional conflict and less significantly associated with patient age and education, as well with male (vs. female) physicians and residents (vs. teachers).ConclusionAfter consulting family physicians, most primary care patients experience little decision regret, but some experience more regret if there is decisional conflict. Strategies for reducing decisional conflict in primary care, such as shared decision-making with decision aids, seem warranted.
Highlights
We sought to estimate the extent of decision regret among primary care patients and identify risk factors associated with regret
In a systematic review of 59 studies examining the extent and predictors of decision regret related to healthcare decisions, we identified only five studies conducted in family medicine practices [8]
French-speaking pairs of patients and physicians were recruited in a practice-based research network (PBRN) in the Province of Quebec consisting of twelve family practice teaching units with a total of about 250 family physicians, including residents, and over 300,000 consultations per year
Summary
We sought to estimate the extent of decision regret among primary care patients and identify risk factors associated with regret. Evidence suggests that decision regret is a common phenomenon in healthcare and that it can Assessing decision regret is important in the context of primary care. The clinical encounter with their family physician is the first point of contact with the healthcare system. This is where they learn about health issues, have their problems assessed and diagnosed, and consider steps they can take to preserve or improve their health [14]. Primary care encompasses the widest possible spectrum of health conditions and is the forum where the greatest number and diversity of medical decisions take place [15, 16], making it a very relevant clinical context for the study of decision regret
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