title: Decision making in pediatric oncology: evaluation and incorporation of patient and parent preferences.
abstract: Decision making in pediatric cancer is particularly difficult. There may be uncertainty about prognosis, and long-term survival estimates from trials may not be applicable to current patients. There are many motivations to conduct research into patient and provider decision making. This review discusses three approaches to understanding decision making, namely decision analysis, the threshold technique and discrete choice experiment. These techniques are applied to situations in pediatric oncology to illustrate how the results may be useful for patient care. Future work in pediatric oncology decision making should focus on methods to facilitate decision making and elicit preferences from children themselves.
authors.affiliation: The Division of Haematology/Oncology and Child Health Evaluative Sciences, Department of Paediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. lillian.sung@sickkids.ca
authors.forename: Lillian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Dean A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Regier
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects; D002648:Child; D003657:Decision Making; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000379:methods*; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000150:complications; D010290:Parents; D057240:Patient Preference; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents