Physicians' shared decision-making behaviors in depression care.
BACKGROUND
Although shared decision making (SDM) has been reported to facilitate quality care, few studies have explored the extent to which SDM is implemented in primary care and factors that influence its application. This study assesses the extent to which physicians enact SDM behaviors and describes factors associated with physicians' SDM behaviors within the context of depression care.


METHODS
In a secondary analysis of data from a randomized experiment, we coded 287 audiorecorded interactions between physicians and standardized patients (SPs) using the Observing Patient Involvement (OPTION) system to assess physician SDM behaviors. We performed a series of generalized linear mixed model analyses to examine physician and patient characteristics associated with SDM behavior.


RESULTS
The mean (SD) OPTION score was 11.4 (3.3) of 48 possible points. Older physicians (partial correlation coefficient = -0.29; beta = -0.09; P < .01) and physicians who practiced in a health maintenance organization setting (beta = -1.60; P < .01) performed fewer SDM behaviors. Longer visit duration was associated with more SDM behaviors (partial correlation coefficient = 0.31; beta = 0.08; P < .01). In addition, physicians enacted more SDM behaviors with SPs who made general (beta = 2.46; P < .01) and brand-specific (beta = 2.21; P < .01) medication requests compared with those who made no request.


CONCLUSIONS
In the context of new visits for depressive symptoms, primary care physicians performed few SDM behaviors. However, physician SDM behaviors are influenced by practice setting and patient-initiated requests for medication. Additional research is needed to identify interventions that encourage SDM when indicated.
Young
Henry N
HN
Social and Administrative Sciences Division, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, USA. hnyoung@pharmacy.wisc.edu
Bell
Robert A
RA
Epstein
Ronald M
RM
Feldman
Mitchell D
MD
Kravitz
Richard L
RL
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003142:Communication; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010358:Patient Participation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D011336:Probability; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000928:Antidepressive Agents