Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Apr;9(2):161-9.
doi: 10.1007/s40271-015-0135-y.

Evaluating a Decision Aid for Improving Decision Making in Patients with Early-stage Breast Cancer

Sarah T Hawley  1   2 , Lisa Newman  3 , Jennifer J Griggs  4 , Mary Ann Kosir  5 , Steven J Katz  4
Affiliations

Evaluating a Decision Aid for Improving Decision Making in Patients with Early-stage Breast Cancer

Sarah T Hawley et al. Patient. 2016 Apr.

Abstract

Background: Early-stage breast cancer patients face a series of complex treatment decisions, with the first typically being choice of locoregional treatment. There is a need for tools to support patients in this decision-making process.

Methods: We developed an innovative, online locoregional treatment tool based on International Patient Decision Aids Standards criteria. We evaluated its impact on patient knowledge about treatment and appraisal of decision making in a pilot study using a clinical sample of newly diagnosed, breast cancer patients who were randomized to view the decision aid website first or complete a survey prior to viewing the decision aid. Differences in knowledge and decision appraisal between the two groups were compared using t-tests and chi-square tests. Computer-generated preferences for treatment were compared with patients' stated preferences using chi-square tests.

Results: One hundred and one newly diagnosed patients were randomized to view the website first or take a survey first. Women who viewed the website first had slightly higher, though not significantly, knowledge about surgery (p = 0.29) and reconstruction (p = 0.10) than the survey-first group. Those who viewed the website first also appraised their decision process significantly more favorably than did those who took the survey first (p < 0.05 for most decision outcomes). There was very good concordance between computer-suggested and stated treatment preferences.

Conclusion: This pilot study suggests that an interactive decision tool shows promise for supporting early-stage breast cancer patients with complicated treatment decision making.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures:

Conflict of interest: Sarah T. Hawley, Jennifer J. Griggs, Lisa Newman, Mary Ann Kosir and Steven J. Katz declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Example of one screenshot of interactive values clarification exercise using conjoint analysis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Veronesi U, Cascinelli N, Mariani L, Greco M, Saccozzi R, Luini A, Aguilar M, Marubini E. Twenty year follow up of a randomized study of breast-conserving surgery with radical mastectomy for early breast cancer. N Engl J Med. 2002;347(16):1227–1232. - PubMed
    1. (EBCTCG) EBCTCG. Effects of radiotherapy and of differences in the extent of surgery for early breast cancer on local recurrence and 15-year survival: an overview of the randomized trials. Lancet. 2005;366(9503):2087–2106. - PubMed
    1. Morrow M. Rational Local Therapy for Breast Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2002;347(16):1270–1271. - PubMed
    1. Fisher B, Anderson S, Bryant J, Margolese RG, Deutsch M, Fisher ER, Jeong JH, Wolmark N. Twenty-year follow-up of a randomized trial comparing total mastectomy, lumpectomy and lumpectomy plus irradiation for the treatment of invasive breast cancer. N Engl J Med. 2002;347(16):1233–1241. - PubMed
    1. Clinical Practice Guidelines. Mastectomy or lumpectomy? The choice of operation for clinical stages I and II breast cancer. CMAJ. 1998;158(Suppl 3):S15–S21. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources