OBJECTIVE: To explore the educational needs of physicians and residents regarding shared decision making (SDM).
METHODS: We conducted eight focus groups with 12 general practitioners (GPs), 14 hospital specialists, 12 hospital specialist residents and 13 GP residents in Belgium. We used thematic analysis to guide data analysis.
RESULTS: We identified five educational needs: (1) the need for a clear understanding of the definition of SDM and its scope; (2) how to deal with a changing professional identity; (3) acquisition of skills to perform SDM; (4) the need for reflective practice in a supportive environment; and (5) sustainable and longitudinal integration in education.
CONCLUSIONS: This is the first focus group study emphasizing dealing with a changing professional identity as an educational need, besides the need for SDM-related knowledge and skills. Physicians stated that implementing spiral learning is needed at all stages of medical training, aimed at all specialties to foster interprofessional collaboration.
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings can support development of future educational SDM interventions, integrating both competence development and professional identity formation. We provide practical recommendations on didactic formats and strategies, hoping to finally reach better implementation of SDM in daily practice.

BACKGROUND: In recent decades, there has been a growing emphasis on involving patients in healthcare decision-making, driven by political, ethical, and research considerations. Although patient involvement is associated with improved health outcomes, understanding patient preferences regarding their role in decision-making is crucial for effective interventions. The Control Preferences Scale (CPS) measures patient preferences along a continuum from passive to active participation. However, its application in Denmark necessitates translation and cultural adaptation.
METHODS: This study aimed to translate and culturally adapt the CPS for Danish use across diverse healthcare settings: acute care, cancer care, elective surgery, chronic medical treatment, and parental involvement in pediatric care. Following a cross-sectional design, the translation process was systematically planned and executed using Beaton\'s guidelines, including the five stages: forward and back translation, synthesis, expert review, and pre-testing.
RESULTS: The translation and adaption process was carried out successfully. Few linguistic challenges were identified and resolved by the expert review. The findings of the pre-testing indicated high acceptability and usability of the adapted CPS among 152 Danish patients and parents. The collaborative role emerged as the most preferred across settings (69.8%), with passive roles more prevalent among cancer patients (30%) and parents waiting with their child to see a pediatrician (23.3%). Notable, more women preferred collaborative or active roles (83.9%) than men (73.9%). The content validity assessment yielded positive feedback, affirming the relevance and comprehensiveness of the CPS.
CONCLUSIONS: In summary, the adaptation and validation of the CPS for Danish use proved successful, providing a valuable tool for assessing patient\'s role preferences in healthcare decision-making. However, future studies are recommended to ensure construct validity and reliability through psychometric testing.

BACKGROUND: The effect of shared decision-making (SDM) regarding the choice of renal replacement therapy (RRT) for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients on their mortality after the induction of dialysis therapy has not been adequately investigated.
METHODS: Patients who initiated dialysis at our hospital were divided into two groups according to whether they participated in SDM in the outpatient clinic, and survival analysis was performed. We also examined the effect of SDM in the outpatient clinic on mortality.
RESULTS: Of the 554 patients, 123 (22.2%) were in the SDM group. The survival rate was significantly higher in the SDM group (p = 0.001, log-rank test). Multivariate analysis excluding ADL, which competed with SDM, showed that SDM was significantly associated with mortality (HR 0.593, 95% CI: 0.353-0.997, p = 0.049).
CONCLUSIONS: SDM regarding RRT selection in the outpatient clinic may be associated with a better patient prognosis after dialysis induction.

Pediatric spine surgery is a high complexity procedure that can carry risks ranging from pain to neurological damage, and even death. This comprehensive mini review explores current best practice obtaining valid and meaningful informed consent (IC) prior to pediatric spinal surgery, including modalities that support effective comprehension and understanding. An evaluation of the literature was performed to explore understanding of surgical IC by patients or their guardians and the role of multimedia tools as a possible facilitator. The evidence discussed throughout this review, based on legal and ethical perspectives, reveals challenges faced by patients and guardians in achieving comprehension and understanding, especially when facing stressful medical situations. In this context, the introduction of multimedia tools emerges as a patient-centered strategy to help improve comprehension and decrease pre-operative uncertainty. This review highlights the need for a tailored approach in obtaining IC for pediatric patients and suggests a potential role of shared decision-making (SDM) in the surgical discussion process.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to investigate the integration of modern sources of patient information, such as videos, internet-based resources, and scientific abstracts, into the traditional patient informed consent process in outpatient elective surgeries. The goal is to optimize the informed consent experience, enhance patient satisfaction, and promote shared decision making (SDM) between patients and surgeons. By exploring different patient informed consent formats and their impact on patient satisfaction, this research seeks to improve healthcare practices and ultimately enhance patient outcomes. The findings of this study will contribute to the ongoing efforts to improve the informed consent process in public hospitals and advance patient-centred care.
METHODS: Data collection occurred at the day care clinic of a prominent German public hospital, forming an integral component of a prospective clinical investigation. The study exclusively focused on individuals who had undergone surgical intervention for skin cancer. For the purpose of meticulous data examination, the statistical software SPSS version 21 was harnessed. In the course of this study, a chi-square test was aptly employed. Its purpose was to scrutinize the nuances in patient experiences pertaining to informed consent across four distinct categories, viz., oral informed consent discussion (Oral ICD), written informed consent discussion (Written ICD), video-assisted informed consent discussion (video-assisted ICD), and digitally assisted informed consent discussion (digital-assisted ICD). The primary dataset of this inquiry was diligently gathered via a structured questionnaire administered to a targeted cohort of 160 patients. Within this sample, a balanced representation of genders was observed, encompassing 82 males and 78 females. Their collective age span ranged from 18 to 92 years, with an average age of 71 years. A randomized selection methodology was employed to include participants in this study during the period spanning from July 2017 to August 2018.
RESULTS: Significant differences were observed across the groups for all research questions, highlighting variations in patient responses. Video-assisted and digital-assisted IC were rated as superior in patient satisfaction with information compared to written and oral IC. Demographic profiles of the four study groups were found to be comparable.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study indicate that the incorporation of digital technologies in the informed consent process can enhance patient understanding during outpatient elective skin cancer surgeries. These results have important implications for increasing patient satisfaction and improving the SDM process within the hospital environment.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the frequency and determinants of medical interventions during childbirth without women\'s consent at the population level.
METHODS: The nationwide cross-sectional Enquête Nationale Périnatale 2021 provided a representative sample of women who delivered in metropolitan France with a 2-month postpartum follow-up (n = 7394). Rates and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of interventions during childbirth (oxytocin administration, episiotomy or emergency cesarean section) without consent were calculated. Associations with maternal, obstetric, and organizational characteristics were assessed using robust variance Poisson regressions, after multiple imputation for missing covariates, and weighted to account for 2-month attrition.
RESULTS: Women reporting failure to seek consent were 44.7% (CI: 42.6-47.0) for oxytocin administration, 60.2% (CI: 55.4-65.0) for episiotomy, and 36.6% (CI: 33.3-40.0) for emergency cesarean birth. Lack of consent for oxytocin was associated with maternal birth abroad (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] 1.20; 95% CI: 1.06-1.36), low education level, and increased cervical dilation at oxytocin initiation, whereas women with a birth plan reported less frequently lack of consent (aPR 0.79; 95% CI: 0.68-0.92). Delivery assisted by an obstetrician was more often associated with lack of consent for episiotomy (aPR 1.46; 95% CI: 1.11-1.94 for spontaneous delivery and aPR 1.39; 95% CI: 1.13-1.72 for instrumental delivery, reference: spontaneous delivery with a midwife). Cesarean for fetal distress was associated with failure to ask for consent for emergency cesarean delivery (aPR 1.58; 95% CI: 1.28-1.96).
CONCLUSIONS: Women frequently reported that perinatal professionals failed to seek consent for interventions during childbirth. Reorganization of care, particularly in emergency contexts, training focusing on adequate communication and promotion of birth plans are necessary to improve women\'s involvement in decision making during childbirth.

BACKGROUND: People with HIV are at increased risk for lung cancer and multimorbidity, complicating the balance of risks and benefits of lung cancer screening. We previously adapted Decision Precision (screenlc.com) to guide shared decision-making for lung cancer screening in people with HIV.
OBJECTIVE: Does an HIV-adapted and personally tailored decision aid improve shared decision-making regarding lung cancer screening in people with HIV as measured by knowledge, decisional conflict, and acceptability?
METHODS: This was a single-arm pilot trial of the decision aid in 40 participants with HIV eligible for lung cancer screening. The decision aid included personalized screening recommendations and HIV-specific, five-year risk estimates of lung cancer and all-cause mortality. Participants reviewed the decision aid at shared decision-making visits and completed pre- and post-visit surveys with measures of knowledge about lung cancer screening, acceptability, and decisional conflict.
RESULTS: The 40 enrolled participants were a median 62 years old and 60% were currently smoking with median five-year risks of lung cancer and all-cause mortality of 2.0% (IQR 1.4-3.3%) and 4.1% (IQR 3.3-7.9%). Personalized recommendations included \"Encourage Screening\" for 53% of participants and \"Preference Sensitive\" recommendations for the remainder. Participants showed improvement in two validated knowledge measures with relative improvement of 60% (p<0.001) on the LCS-12 and 27% (p<0.001) on the LKS-7, with significant improvement on questions regarding false-positive and false-negative findings, incidental findings, lung cancer-specific mortality benefit, and the possible harms of screening. Participants reported low scores on the decisional conflict scale (median score 0, IQR 0-5) and high acceptability. Ninety percent ultimately underwent screening within one month of the visit.
CONCLUSIONS: This HIV-adapted and personally tailored decision aid improved participants\' knowledge of risks, benefits, and characteristics of screening with low decisional conflict and high acceptability. This decision aid can enable high-quality shared decision-making in this high-risk population.

UNASSIGNED: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the world. There are some decision-making conflicts in the management of chest pain, treatment methods, stent selection, and other aspects due to the unstable condition of CHD in the treatment stage. Although using decision aids to facilitate shared decision-making (SDM) contributes to high-quality decision-making, it has not been evaluated in the field of CHD. This review systematically assessed the effects of SDM in patients with CHD.
UNASSIGNED: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of SDM interventions in patients with CHD from database inception to 1 June 2022 (PROSPERO [Unique identifier: CRD42022338938]). We searched for relevant studies in the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, and Wan Fang databases. The primary outcomes were knowledge and decision conflict. The secondary outcomes were satisfaction, patient participation, trust, acceptance, quality of life, and psychological condition.
UNASSIGNED: A total of 8244 studies were retrieved. After screening, ten studies were included in the analysis. Compared with the control group, SDM intervention with patient decision aids obviously improved patients\' knowledge, decision satisfaction, participation, and medical outcomes and reduced decision-making conflict. There was no significant effect of SDM on trust.
UNASSIGNED: This study showed that SDM intervention in the form of decision aids was beneficial to decision-making quality and treatment outcomes among patients with CHD. The results of SDM interventions need to be evaluated in different environments.

Reducing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels lowers the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. With the current and future portfolios of emerging lipid-lowering therapies included in various national and international guidelines, the objectives of this study were (i) to investigate the perceptions of UK prescribers\', including doctors, pharmacists, and nurses, on current lipid management for cardiovascular diseases and prescriptions of novel lipid-lowering therapies, and (ii) to explore the challenges and facilitating factors of prescribing novel lipid-lowering therapies through qualitative interviews. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with twelve medical and non-medical prescribers were conducted, around 20-30 min in length. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed on an online platform. A thematic analysis was deployed. Four major themes emerged from the analysis: (1) prescribing barriers; (2) prescribing enablers; (3) inter-profession variability; and (4) health literacy. These themes highlighted the contrast between the need for optimal shared decision making and the various constraints in practice. Participants expressed their inexperience with novel lipid-lowering therapies and acknowledged the requirement and importance of these agents for primary cardiovascular disease prevention. Participants recognised confidence and competence as key drivers for prescribing therapies and welcomed further education and training to enhance their skillset. Patients\' misconceptions towards current lipid-lowering therapies contributed to their refusal of newer agents, highlighting a requirement to improve patient education. Targeting communities through awareness campaigns was identified as a viable solution.

Shared decision-making (SDM) is a collaborative effort between a physician and a patient to make an informed clinical decision, as defined by each patient\'s preferences and values. Shared decision-making is particularly used in areas of clinical equipoise or preference-sensitive conditions, which are common in hand surgery. Although there is increased interest in SDM across health care, hand surgeons receive little formal training on SDM. In this review, we explore existing barriers to SDM in hand surgery and provide a framework for participating in SDM discussions.