Involvement In Treatment Decisions Research Articles

Preference of Non-pharmaceutical Preoperative Anxiety Reduction Intervention in Patients Undergoing Elective Surgery

Abstract: For patients to be treated, decisions about their care must be made before treatment begins. In case of pre-operative anxiety, it is currently unknown how clinicians and patients discuss information about the issue, and it is also not known whether clinicians consider (or are ready to consider) their patients’ preferences of non-pharmaceutical pre-operative anxiety reduction interventions. At present no study has been conducted to find information on surgical patients’ preferences of, and their involvement in decisions about non-pharmaceutical interventions for reducing their pre-operative anxiety. This paper investigates elective surgical patients’ involvement in treatment decisions with the aim of finding out their preferred non-pharmaceutical pre-operative anxiety reduction interventions before they undergo elective surgery. Method : A survey method was used to collect data on patients’ preference of non-pharmaceutical preoperative anxiety reduction interventions at a tertiary health facility in Nigeria. Participants: A sample of 30 participants-17 male and 13 female, schedule to undergo surgical operations was selected using a convenient sampling method. Their ages range between 17 to 70 years (mean age = 41.03 and standard deviation = 16.09). Study design/procedure: To elicit preference of interventions, the study participants were presented with cards that contain picture of surgical patient receiving one of the non-pharmaceutical interventions used in reducing pre-operative anxiety. The pictures were presented one at a time for 30-40 seconds. The researcher then gives the participants a sheet of paper with the different interventions boldly written for the participants to rank order them according to the degree of their preferences. Through this process, data was collected from all the 30 participants. Results: The results obtained were entered into SPSS for analysis. Descriptive statistics, at 95 % confidence was calculated to estimate the percentage, mean, standard deviation and confidence intervals based on the participants’ preference of the interventions. Discussions: The findings were discussed alongside the existing literature and recommendations were offered for clinical practice and further research.

Treatment Decision-Making Involvement in Adolescents and Young Adults With Cancer.

Involvement in treatment decision making (TDM) is considered a key element of patient- and family-centered care and positively affects outcomes. However, for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer, little is known about the current state of knowledge about their perspective on and involvement in TDM or the factors influencing AYAs' TDM involvement. Integrative review focused on AYAs aged 15-21 years, their involvement in TDM, and factors influencing their involvement using the MEDLINE®, PsycINFO®, CINAHL®, and Web of Science databases. 4,047 articles were identified; 21 met inclusion criteria. Five factors were identified. Research is needed to understand AYAs' preferences for TDM, the type and degree of their involvement, and the interactions between factors that contribute to or impede TDM.

Predictors of Patient-Reported Communication with Their Health Care Team about New Treatment Options for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

▪Background: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) progresses with time and, as a result, patients can be challenged by considering multiple treatment options. Importantly, over the past decade, an array of new CLL treatments have emerged, including targeted therapy and immunotherapy options. Health care teams, therefore, play an important role in discussing new treatments with patients to ensure shared decision making. A substantial proportion of patients, however, report not discussing newly approved treatment options with clinicians. Our goal was to understand the sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with doctors' likelihood of discussing new treatment options in a national sample of CLL patients.Methods: Using data from the Cancer Support Community's Cancer Experience Registry®, our analytic sample included 187 participants who report CLL as their primary diagnosis. The dependent variable in all analyses was a dichotomous, patient-reported indicator of whether or not their doctor discussed new treatment options (e.g., ibrutinib, idealisib, obinutuzumab) with them. Our independent variables included: 1) sociodemographic characteristics: age, gender, education, urbanicity, and race; 2) clinical factors: genetic risk, treatment status, years since diagnosis, CLL risk (low, intermediate or high; based on patient report of how doctor estimated their CLL may progress over time), and relapse; and 3) patient-clinician communication: patient involvement in treatment decision making, patient's consideration of financial cost of care, discussion of health care team's goals for treatment, and discussion of patient's goals for treatment.Our analyses proceeded in two steps. First, we descriptively compared patients who discuss new treatments with their doctors and those who do not using Student's t-test. Second, multivariate logistic regression models estimated likelihood of doctor discussing new treatment options by sociodemographic, clinical, and patient-provider characteristics. Multiple imputation accounted for missingness in our regression models.Results: Our sample was 48% female, 96% White, and averaged 62 years of age (SD = 10), with a mean time since diagnosis of 7 years (SD = 5). 18% of our sample reported having a deletion 17p, 22% reported having a deletion 13q, 22% were currently receiving chemotherapy, and 16% reported recurrence of their CLL. 58% of our sample reported discussing new treatment options with their doctor. Descriptively, patients who report higher frequencies of cancer recurrence, intermediate or high risk of their CLL, genetic testing results indicative of deletion 17p and deletion 13q, current chemotherapy, greater involvement in treatment decision making, and lower consideration of financial cost of care were significantly more likely to discuss new treatment options with their doctors. In multivariate models, controlling for all sociodemographic, clinical, and patient-clinician characteristics, our results highlight a greater likelihood of discussing new options among patients who have experienced a relapse of their CLL.Conclusion: Nearly half of our CLL patients did not report discussing new treatment options with their clinician, raising concerns about whether shared decision-making is really taking place in the era of novel CLL therapeutics. While those who experience a relapse are significantly more likely to discuss new treatment options, unmet needs remain. As new treatments are incorporated into standard of care, greater efforts are needed to enhance shared decision-making at all points of care. DisclosuresBuzaglo:Vector Oncology: Employment.

Getting the right fit: Convergence between preferred and perceived involvement in treatment decision making among medical oncology outpatients.

Background and AimsWhile cancer patients' preferences for their level of involvement in treatment decision making (TDM) vary, previous research indicates a large proportion of patients are not experiencing TDM that meets their preferences. Evidence is needed to identify the characteristics of cancer patients who are less likely to report experiencing their preferred level of involvement in TDM, so that appropriate decision‐making support can be provided to them. We examined in a sample of medical oncology outpatients (1) the level of agreement between preferred and perceived involvement in TDM and (2) demographic, psychological, disease, and treatment characteristics associated with having unmet preferences for involvement in TDM.Methods and ResultsCancer patients from three medical oncology treatment centers in Australia completed surveys assessing demographic, disease and treatment variables, psychological distress, and preferred and perceived involvement in TDM. Data were collected between February 2013 and December 2014. Factors associated with having unmet TDM preferences were examined using logistic regression. There were 355 patients included in the analysis (75% response rate). The mean age (±SD) of the participants was 61 (±12), and 45% were male. Overall, 60% of participants reported that their preferences for involvement in TDM were met. No demographic, psychological, disease, or treatment characteristics were significantly associated with an increased probability of not having TDM preferences met.ConclusionsIn line with previous research, a large proportion (40%) of patients reported TDM experiences that were not in alignment with their preferences. Future research should explore additional characteristics that are associated with a lower likelihood of having TDM preferences met.

Decision-making under clinical uncertainty: An in-depth examination of provider perspectives on adjuvant chemotherapy for stage II colon cancer

ObjectiveDecision-making about adjuvant chemotherapy (ACT) for stage II colon cancer is complex, particularly in light of clinical uncertainty regarding treatment benefits. Little is known about provider communication and factors influencing decision-making and recommendations in this setting. MethodsWe recruited providers from six US cancer centers and hospitals who care for stage II colon cancer patients. Providers participated in a 30–45 minute interview. Transcripts of interviews were coded for qualitative analysis. ResultsWe interviewed 42 providers (Oncologists: 52%; surgeons: 24%; nurses: 14%). Though most providers were aware of stage II colon cancer treatment guidelines, their use and communication of recommended guidelines was limited. Most reported tailoring delivery and content of their communication, often based on perceived patient education level, but patient involvement in decision-making varied. Findings highlight the complexity of, ACT decision-making, including the central role of providers and family members. ConclusionsProviders are not consistently following recommended guidelines for communicating about ACT among stage II colon cancer patients or eliciting patient preferences for involvement in treatment decisions. Practice ImplicationsGiven clinical uncertainty surrounding use of ACT for stage II colon cancer, efforts are needed to enhance guideline implementation, provider education, and communication to facilitate decision-making.

Child and Parental Perspectives on Communication and Decision Making in Pediatric CKD: A Focus Group Study

Effective communication and shared decision making improve quality of care and patient outcomes but can be particularly challenging in pediatric chronic disease because children depend on their parents and clinicians to manage complex health care and developmental needs. We aimed to describe the perspectives of children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and their parents with regard to communication and decision making. Qualitative study. Children with CKD (n=34) and parents (n=62) from 6 centers across 6 cities in Australia, Canada, and the United States participated in 16 focus groups. Transcripts were analyzed thematically. We identified 4 themes: (1) disempowered by knowledge imbalance (unprepared and ill-informed, suspicion of censorship, and inadequacy as technicians), (2) recognizing own expertise (intuition and instinct unique to parental bond, emerging wisdom and confidence, identifying opportunities for control and inclusion, and empowering participation in children), (3) striving to assert own priorities (negotiating broader life impacts, choosing to defer decisional burden, overprotected and overruled, and struggling to voice own preferences), and (4) managing child's involvement (respecting child's expertise, attributing "risky" behaviors to rebellion, and protecting children from illness burden). Only English-speaking participants were recruited, which may limit the transferability of the findings. We collected data from child andparent perspectives; however, clinician perspectives may provide further understanding of the difficulties of communication and decision making in pediatrics. Parents value partnership with clinicians and consider long-term and quality-of-life implications of their child's illness. Children with CKD want more involvement in treatment decision making but are limited by vulnerability, fear, and uncertainty. There is a need to support the child to better enable him or her to become a partner in decision making and prepare him or her for adulthood. Collaborative and informed decision making that addresses the priorities and concerns of both children and parents is needed.

A prospective observational study to assess clinical decision-making, prognosis, quality of life and satisfaction with care in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma: the CLARITY study protocol

BackgroundTreatment decision-making in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) is challenging for a number of reasons including, the heterogeneity of disease at relapse and the number of possible therapeutic approaches. This study broadly aims to generate new evidence-based data to facilitate clinical decision-making in RRMM patients. The primary objective is to investigate the prognostic value of patient self-reported fatigue severity for overall survival.MethodsThis multicenter prospective observational study will consecutively enroll 312 patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least 1 prior line of therapy and are considered as RRMM according to the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) criteria. Eligible RRMM participants will be adults (≥ 18 years old) patients and will be enrolled irrespective of comorbidities and performance status. At the time of study inclusion, data to calculate the frailty score are to be available. Patients will be followed up for 30 months and patient-reported outcome (PRO) assessment is planned at baseline and thereafter at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months. The following PRO validated questionnaires will be used: the European Organisation for the Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), the EORTC QLQ-MY20 and the EORTC QLQ-INFO25. Satisfaction with care and preference for involvement in treatment decisions will also be evaluated. Clinical, laboratory and treatment related information will be prospectively collected in conjunction with pre scheduled PRO assessments. Cox regression analyses will be used to assess the prognostic value of baseline fatigue severity (EORTC QLQ-C30) and other patient-reported health-related quality of life parameters.DiscussionClinical decision-making in RRMM is a challenge and outcome prediction is also an important aspect to enhance personalized treatment planning. Given the paucity of PRO data in this population, this prospective observational study aims to provide novel information that may facilitate patients’ management in routine practice.Trial registrationThis trial is registered as identifier NCT03190525.

Not asking cancer patients about their preferences does make a difference. A cross-sectional study examining cancer patients' preferred and perceived role in decision-making regarding their last important cancer treatment.

We examined whether not having been asked by their clinicians about how involved cancer patients would like to be in their treatment decisions is related to discordance between patients' preferred and perceived involvement in treatment decision-making. This was a cross-sectional survey of adult cancer patients recruited from five medical and radiation oncology outpatient clinics in Australia. Discordance of patients' preferred and perceived decision-making roles was assessed via an adapted version of the Control Preferences Scale. Logistic regression modelling was conducted to assess the relationship between role discordance and whether patients were not asked but wanted to be asked about how involved they would like to be in deciding on their treatment. Of 423 study participants, almost a third (n=128, 31%) reported discordance between their preferred and perceived involvement in their treatment decisions. Of those reporting discordance, 72% (n=92) were less involved than they would have liked to have been. Not being asked about their preferences for involvement in treatment decisions, despite wanting this, was associated with discordance between patients' preferred and perceived involvement in treatment decision-making (p<0.04). To achieve patient-centred care, it is vital that clinicians seek patients' views about how involved they would like to be in deciding on their cancer treatment.

PSY93 - Effect of Patient Involvement in Treatment Decision Making on Disease Outcomes in Rheumatoid Arthritis in the EU5

PSY93 - Effect of Patient Involvement in Treatment Decision Making on Disease Outcomes in Rheumatoid Arthritis in the EU5

The role of patients’ families in treatment decision-making among adult cancer patients in the Sultanate of Oman

There are limited numbers of studies available in Middle Eastern Arabic countries regarding participation of family ‎members in cancer treatment decision-making (TDM). The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of family members' ‎in TDM among ‎adult Omani cancer ‎patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted in two main teaching hospitals. All adult Omani patients who were diagnosed with cancer and their nominated family members were invited to ‎participate. A tool developed by Cancer Care Outcomes Research and ‎Surveillance Consortium was used to identify the level of family involvement in TDM. A weighted kappa (k) was significant (p<.001) and showed almost full agreement between the patients' experiences and their preferences ‎(‎k=.98) and between family members' experiences and their preferences ‎(‎k=.96) ‎‎of family involvement in TDM. Binary logistic regression showed significant family-controlled TDM if the patient communicated‎ less with oncologists (OR=9.89; 95% CI: 3.79-25.81); financial dependence of the patient on their families ‎(OR=6.21; 95% CI: 2.19-17.10‎); and advanced stages of cancer at the time of diagnosis ‎(OR=3.10; 95% CI: 1.37-7.03). Oncologists in Oman should be aware of the strong family involvement in TDM to allow a successful cancer treatment.

Child and Parent Access to Transplant Information and Involvement in Treatment Decision Making.

Pediatric stem cell transplant processes require information sharing among the patient, family, and clinicians regarding the child's condition, prognosis, and transplant procedures. To learn about perceived access to transplant information and involvement in decision making among child family members (9-22 years old), we completed a secondary analysis of 119 interviews conducted with pediatric patients, sibling donors, nondonor siblings/cousins, and guardians from 27 families prior to transplant. Perceptions of information access and involvement in transplant-related decisions were extracted and summarized. We compared child member perceptions to their guardians' and examined differences by child age and gender. Most child members perceived exclusion from transplant (79%) and donor (63%) information and decisions (63%) although this varied by child role. Gender was unrelated to involvement; older age was associated with less perceived exclusion. Congruence in perspectives across children and guardians was evident for eight (30%) families, most of whom ( n = 7) excluded the children.

GP and parent dissonance about the assessment and treatment of childhood eczema in primary care: a qualitative study

ObjectivesTo compare parents’ and clinicians’ perspectives on the assessment and treatment of children with eczema in primary care.DesignQualitative interview study with purposive and snowball sampling and thematic analysis.Setting14 general practices...

Women's experiences with deciding on neoadjuvant systemic therapy for operable breast cancer: A qualitative study

Objective:We explored, qualitatively, in a sample of Australian early-stage breast cancer patients eligible for neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAST): (i) their understanding of the choice of having NAST; (ii) when and with whom the decision on NAST was made; and (iii) strategies used by patients to facilitate their decision on NAST.Methods:A sub-sample of patients participating in a larger intervention trial took part in this study. A total of 24 semi-structured phone interviews were analyzed using framework analysis.Results:A number of women perceived they were not offered a treatment choice. Most patients reported that the decision on NAST was made during or shortly after the initial consultation with their doctor. Women facilitated decision-making by reducing deciding factors and “claiming” the decision. Most women reported that they made the final decision, although they did not feel actively involved in the decision-making process.Conclusions:When deciding on NAST, patient-centered care is not always delivered to patients. Clinicians should emphasize to patients that they have a treatment choice, explain the preference-sensitive nature of deciding on NAST and highlight that patients should be involved in this treatment decision. Providing patients with appropriate time and tailored take-home information might facilitate patient decision-making. Process-orientated research is needed to adequately examine patient involvement in complex treatment decisions.

Adherence to medication in patients with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review of qualitative research.

Non-adherence to multipharmacological treatment increases the risk of morbidity, mortality and hospitalization. We know little about the perspective of patients with chronic kidney disease regarding factors influencing medicine taking. This study aimed to synthesize findings from qualitative studies of patients’ experiences of factors that facilitate and hinder adherence to medication. A systematic review of qualitative studies adhering to the Enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research (ENTREQ) framework. Systematic searches were conducted in several databases. We used thematic synthesis and the Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative Research (CERQual) approach to assess the confidence of the evidence. Nineteen studies involving 381 patients with chronic kidney disease were included. We identified three analytical themes; logistics, benchmarking the need for medication; and the quality of the patient-physician relationship, with seven descriptive sub-themes as factors influencing patients' adherence to medications. Helping patients to map their everyday activities and motivating them to associate medications with everyday activities may facilitate adherence to medications. Addressing patient beliefs about medications, supporting patients in coping with side effects of medications and eliciting patients’ wishes for involvement in treatment decisions may also facilitate adherence. Barriers to adherence were the costs of buying medications, and lacking understanding of the indications and effects of medications. The findings in this synthesis resonate with previous research and extend the known literature by synthesizing and formally assessing confidence in the evidence.

Participation rate of cancer patients in treatment decisions: a cross sectional study

Background and objective: Cancer is one of the most common diseases and the second reason of death in Iran. Giving decision making authority to patients is one of the fundamental principles of the protection of patients. Patients have rights as consumers of health care services that nurses, physician and other health professionals are responsible for maintaining and protecting it. This study aimed to determine cancer patients’ involvement in treatment decisions making. Methods:This cross-sectional study was carried out as descriptive-analytic with practical purpose in 2017 in Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. The study population included 1,000 patients who had cancer that whom 450 patients were selected by simple random sampling. To measure patient participation in treatment decisions, was used of Levente Kristona standard questionnaire. Reliability and validity of the questionnaire was confirmed (coefficient = 0.82). For data analysis used of software spss21 with descriptive statistics and chi-square tests Results: among the patients, 197 men (53%) and 177 women (47%) with a mean age of 31 years were examined. The results of this study showed that the score of mean participation in treatment decisions among the cancer patients was 30 ± 12 and it was in low level. The patients’ participation in treatment decisions had a significant relationship with education level (P = 0.027), however, it was not statistical significant with gender, age, income, occupation and type of cancer and other demographic variables (P> 0.05). Conclusion: In general, that patients' participation in clinical decision making is weak and low. Since patients’ participation in clinical decisions could affect the quality of treatment decisions, therefore, health care providers should attention more to this fact. Also, culturalizating and education according to patients’ knowledge and use of treatment techniques are recommended for clinical decision making promotion. Paper Type:Research Article.

Implementation of shared decision-making in oncology: development and pilot study of a nurse-led decision-coaching programme for women with ductal carcinoma in situ

BackgroundTo implement informed shared decision-making (ISDM) in breast care centres, we developed and piloted an inter-professional complex intervention.MethodsWe developed an intervention consisting of three components: an evidence-based patient decision aid (DA) for women with ductal carcinoma in situ, a decision-coaching led by specialised nurses (breast care nurses and oncology nurses) and structured physician encounters.In order to enable professionals to gain ISDM competencies, we developed and tested a curriculum-based training programme for specialised nurses and a workshop for physicians. After successful testing of the components, we conducted a pilot study to test the feasibility of the entire revised intervention in two breast care centres. Here the acceptance of the intervention by women and professionals, the applicability to the breast care centres’ procedures, women’s knowledge, patient involvement in treatment decision-making assessed with the MAPPIN’SDM-observer instrument MAPPIN’Odyad, and barriers to and facilitators of the implementation were taken into consideration. We used questionnaires, structured verbal and written feedback and video recordings. Qualitative data were analysed descriptively, and mean values and ranges of quantitative data were calculated.ResultsTo test the DA, focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with 27 women. Six expert reviews were obtained. The components of the nurse training were tested with 18 specialised nurses and 19 health science students. The development and piloting of the components were successful. The pilot test of the entire intervention included seven patients. In general, the intervention is applicable. Patients attained adequate knowledge (range of correct answers: 9–11 of 11). On average, a basic level of patient involvement in treatment decision-making was observed for nurses and patient–nurse dyads (M(MAPPIN-Odyad): 2.15 and M(MAPPIN-Onurse): 1.90). Relevant barriers were identified; physicians barely tolerated women’s preferences that were not in line with the medical recommendation. Classifying women as inappropriate for ISDM due to age or education led physicians to neglect eligible women during the recruitment phase.ConclusionDecision-coaching is feasible. Nevertheless, there are some indications that structural changes are needed for long-term implementation. We are currently evaluating the intervention in a cluster randomised controlled trial in 16 breast care centres.

Treatment decision-making among breast cancer patients in Malaysia.

PurposeThis study investigated breast cancer patients’ involvement level in the treatment decision-making process and the concordance between patients’ and physician’s perspectives in decision-making.Participants and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted involving physicians and newly diagnosed breast cancer patients from three public/teaching hospitals in Malaysia. The Control Preference Scale (CPS) was administered to patients and physicians, and the Krantz Health Opinion Survey (KHOS) was completed by the patients alone. Binary logistic regression was used to determine the association between sociodemographic characteristics, the patients’ involvement in treatment decision-making, and patients’ preference for behavioral involvement and information related to their disease.ResultsThe majority of patients preferred to share decision-making with their physicians (47.5%), while the second largest group preferred being passive (42.6%) and a small number preferred being active (9.8%). However, the physicians perceived that the majority of patients preferred active decision-making (56.9%), followed by those who desired shared decision-making (32.8%), and those who preferred passive decision-making (10.3%). The overall concordance was 26.5% (54 of 204 patient–physician dyads). The median of preference for information score and behavioral involvement score was 4 (interquartile range [IQR] =3–5) and 2 (IQR =2–3), respectively. In univariate analysis, the ethnicity and educational qualification of patients were significantly associated with the patients’ preferred role in the process of treatment decision-making and the patients’ preference for information seeking (p>0.05). However, only educational qualification (p=0.004) was significantly associated with patients’ preference for information seeking in multivariate analysis.ConclusionPhysicians failed to understand patients’ perspectives and preferences in treatment decision-making. The concordance between physicians’ perception and patients’ perception was quite low as the physicians perceived that more than half of the patients were active in treatment decision-making. In actuality, more than half of patients perceived that they shared decision-making with their physicians.

Shared decision making after severe stroke-How can we improve patient and family involvement in treatment decisions?

People who are well may regard survival with disability as being worse than death. However, this is often not the case when those surviving with disability (e.g. stroke survivors) are asked the same question. Many routine treatments provided after an acute stroke (e.g. feeding via a tube) increase survival, but with disability. Therefore, clinicians need to support patients and families in making informed decisions about the use of these treatments, in a process termed shared decision making. This is challenging after acute stroke: there is prognostic uncertainty, patients are often too unwell to participate in decision making, and proxies may not know the patients' expressed wishes (i.e. values). Patients' values also change over time and in different situations. There is limited evidence on successful methods to facilitate this process. Changes targeted at components of shared decision making (e.g. decision aids to provide information and discussing patient values) increase patient satisfaction. How this influences decision making is unclear. Presumably, a "shared decision-making tool" that introduces effective changes at various stages in this process might be helpful after acute stroke. For example, by complementing professional judgement with predictions from prognostic models, clinicians could provide information that is more accurate. Decision aids that are personalized may be helpful. Further qualitative research can provide clinicians with a better understanding of patient values and factors influencing this at different time points after a stroke. The evaluation of this tool in its success to achieve outcomes consistent with patients' values may require more than one clinical trial.

Cardiologists' experiences and perceptions of patient involvement and communication related to shared decision-making regarding atrial fibrillation treatment.

To feel involved in decisions about atrial fibrillation (AF) treatment, patients need supportive communication from cardiologists. Shedding light on cardiologists' perceptions of patient involvement in AF care settings is thus of importance. We examine (1) how cardiologists describe patient involvement and communication related to shared decisionmaking regarding AF treatment, and (2) their perceptions of efforts to involve patients in the treatment decisions. Ten cardiologists were interviewed in four Swedish hospitals. A qualitative content analysis was performed on the interview data. Cardiologists' perceptions of patient involvement in treatment decisions are framed in terms of (1) ideology, (2) experience, and (3) responsibility. By taking into account patients' feelings in the consultations, and by actively encouraging patients to be involved, the cardiologists contributed to patient involvement. One key to improving compliance with legislation aimed at increasing patient involvement in treatment decisions could lie in paying attention to physician-patient communication and the conditions for patient involvement in decision-making about treatment.

Patient's Cognitive Function and Attitudes towards Family Involvement in Cancer Treatment Decision Making: A Patient-Family Caregiver Dyadic Analysis.

PurposeOlder patient populations commonly have cognitive impairment, which might impact decisional capacity. We examined patients and family caregivers preferences for family involvement in treatment decision making assuming different level of cognitive impairment, and sought to explore the factors associated with the preferences and the degree to which patients and family members agree on preferences.Materials and MethodsA total of 358 elderly cancer patient and caregiver dyads were recruited from the 11 cancer centers in Korea andwere asked to express their preferences forfamily involvement in treatment decision making using hypothetical scenarios with three different levels of cognitive status (intact, mild impairment, and severe impairment).ResultsBoth patients and family caregivers preferred greater family dominance in treatment decision makingwith the increasing the level of cognitive impairment (39.7%, 60.9%, and 86.6% for patients and 45.0%, 66.2%, and 89.7% for caregivers in each scenarios). Patient and family caregiver concordance in decisional control preference was small for all three scenarios (weighted κ=0.32, κ=0.26, and κ=0.36, respectively). Higher patient education was associated with preference for patient dominance in treatment decision in conditions of both mild and severe cognitive impairment. The association of higher patient education and patient-caregiver preference concordance was positive with intact cognition, while it was negative with severe cognitive impairment.ConclusionDecision control preferences were affected by hypothesized cognitive status of the patients. Findings from our study would be helpful to develop effective strategy for optimizing family involvement in cancer treatment decision in the context of deteriorating cognitive function of the patients.