title: What are the decision-making preferences of patients in vascular surgery? A mixed-methods study.
abstract: Shared decision-making (SDM) has been advocated as the preferred method of choosing a suitable treatment option. However, patient involvement in treatment decision-making is not yet common practice in the field of vascular surgery. The aim of this mixed-methods study was to explore patients' decision-making preferences and to investigate which facilitators and barriers patients perceive as important for the application of SDM in vascular surgery.
  
  
  
  Patients were invited to participate after visiting the vascular surgical outpatient clinic of an Academic Medical Center in the Netherlands. A treatment decision was made during the consultation for an abdominal aortic aneurysm or peripheral arterial occlusive disease. Patients filled in a number of questionnaires (quantitative part) and a random subgroup of patients participated in an in-depth interview (qualitative part).
  
  
  
  A total of 67 patients participated in this study. 58 per cent of them (n=39) indicated that they preferred a shared role in decision-making. In more than half of the patients (55%; n=37) their preferred role was in disagreement with what they had experienced. 31 per cent of the patients (n=21) preferred a more active role in the decision-making process than they had experienced. Patients indicated a good patient-doctor relationship as an important facilitator for the application of SDM.
  
  
  
  The vast majority of vascular surgical patients preferred, but did not experience a shared role in the decision-making process, although the concept of SDM was insufficiently clear to some patients. This emphasises the importance of explaining the concept of SDM and implementing it in the clinical encounter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: T B Katrien
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Santema
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E Anniek
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Stoffer
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marleen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kunneman
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Mark J W
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Koelemay
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dirk T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Ubbink
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000601:surgery*; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D010358:Patient Participation; D057240:Patient Preference; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000601:surgery*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures
keywords: patient preferences; patient-involvement; shared decision-making