Physicians' Awareness and Attitudes Toward Decision Aids for Patients With Cancer

Early Release, published online ahead of print Mar 30 2010
Journal of Clinical Oncology, 10.1200/JCO.2009.25.2874

Physicians' Awareness and Attitudes Toward Decision Aids for Patients With Cancer

Chantalle Brace, Selina Schmocker, Harden Huang, J. Charles Victor, Robin S. McLeod, and Erin D. Kennedy*
From the Department of Surgery, University Health Network–Toronto General Hospital; Department of Surgery, Mount Sinai Hospital; Dr Zane Cohen Digestive Disease Research Unit; and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Purpose: Patient decision aids are interventions designed to help patients make deliberative choices about their treatment options and have been shown to significantly improve patient outcomes. Although considered optimal, decision aids are not widely used in clinical practice for cancer treatment. The objectives of this study are to determine physicians' awareness and use of decision aids, physicians' perceptions of the major barriers to the use of decision aids, and physician characteristics predictive of use of decision aids in clinical practice.