Medical tests

Women's reported and preferred decision‐making roles and preferences for information on benefits, side‐effects and false results

Bibliographic Data

ID19506629
AuthorsHeather M Davey (The University of Sydney), Andrew Barratt (0000-0002-2561-3319, The University of Sydney), Alexandra L Barratt, Elizabeth Davey (0000-0003-1124-1443, The University of Sydney), Phyllis Butow (0000-0003-3562-6954, The University of Sydney), Phyllis N Butow, Sally Redman (National Breast Cancer Foundation), Nehmat Houssami (0000-0002-3641-952X, National Breast Cancer Foundation), G Salkeld (0000-0002-1644-9262, The University of Sydney), Glenn P Salkeld
Year2002
Volume5
Issue4
Pages330-340
Publication date2002-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHealth Expectations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-6513 • E-ISSN: 1369-7625
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1046/j.1369-6513.2002.00194.x
PMID12460222
OpenAlexW1968659351
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited20

Objective To determine women's preferences for and reported experience with medical test decision‐making. Design Computer‐assisted telephone survey. Setting and participants Six hundred and fifty‐two women resident in households randomly selected from the New South Wales electronic white pages. Main outcome measures Reported and preferred test and treatment (for comparison) decision‐making, satisfaction with and anxiety about information on false results and side‐effects; and effect of anxiety on desire for such information. Results Overall most women preferred to share test (94.6%) and treatment (91.2%) decision‐making equally with their doctor, or to take a more active role, with only 5.4–8.9% reporting they wanted the doctor to make these decisions on their behalf. This pattern was consistent across all age groups. In general, women reported experiencing a decision‐making role that was consistent with their preference. Women who had a usual doctor were more likely to report experiencing an active role in decision‐making. More women reported receiving as much information as they wanted about the benefits of tests and treatment than about the side‐effects of tests and treatment. Most women wanted information about the possibility of false test results (91.5%) and test side‐effects (95.6%), but many reported the doctor never provided this information (false results = 40.0% and side‐effects = 31.3%). A substantial proportion said this information would make them anxious (false results = 56.6% and side‐effects = 43.1%), but reported they wanted the information anyway (false results = 77.6% and side‐effects = 88.1%). Conclusions Women prefer an active role in test and treatment decision‐making. Many women reported receiving inadequate information. If so, this may jeopardize informed decision‐making

Anxiety · Family medicine · Patient satisfaction · Preference · Psychiatry · Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills · Medicine · Nursing · Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare · Psychology · Psychometric Methodologies and Testing · Social Psychology

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