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Am Fam Physician. 2024;110(3):online

Author disclosure: No relevant financial relationships.

DETAILS FOR THIS REVIEW

Study Population: 107,698 adults who make decisions for themselves, for a child, or as a proxy

Efficacy End Points: Congruence between informed values and choice, knowledge, accurate risk perceptions, and participation in decision-making

Harm End Points: Decision regret

Benefits of decision aids compared with usual care
1 in 6 had improved congruence between informed values and choice
1 in 4 had more accurate risk perceptions
1 in 15 had reduced clinician-controlled decision-making
Harms of decision aids compared with usual care
No significant difference in decision regret

Narrative: Medical advances often improve life expectancy but have also complicated medical decision-making due to increased screening and treatment options. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends shared decision-making for eight preventive services (e.g., prostate cancer screening).1 Major payors also have weighed in. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services mandate the use of patient decision aids during discussions of several preventive services (e.g., lung cancer screening).2 Tailoring patient care to individual values plays an essential role in clinical practice, and decision aids can assist in navigating communication between physicians and patients.

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Copyright ©2024 MD Aware, LLC (theNNT.com). Used with permission.

This series is coordinated by Christopher W. Bunt, MD, AFP assistant medical editor, and the NNT Group.

A collection of Medicine by the Numbers published in AFP is available at https:// www.aafp.org/afp/mbtn.

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