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JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2003 95(8):581-587; doi:10.1093/jnci/95.8.581
© 2003 by Oxford University Press
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Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 95, No. 8, 581-587, April 16, 2003
© 2003 Oxford University Press


ARTICLE

Helping Patients Make Informed Choices: A Randomized Trial of a Decision Aid for Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Lymph Node-Negative Breast Cancer

Timothy Whelan, Carol Sawka, Mark Levine, Amiram Gafni, Leonard Reyno, Andrew Willan, Jim Julian, Susan Dent, Hakam Abu-Zahra, Edmond Chouinard, Richard Tozer, Kathleen Pritchard, Ilona Bodendorfer

Affiliations of authors: T. Whelan, M. Levine, Cancer Care Ontario (CCO), Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre, and Supportive Cancer Care Research Unit, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; C. Sawka, K. Pritchard, CCO Toronto Sunnybrook Regional Cancer Centre, Toronto, Ontario; A. Gafni, A. Willan, J. Julian, I. Bodendorfer, Supportive Cancer Care Research Unit, McMaster University; L. Reyno, E. Chouinard, R. Tozer, CCO, Hamilton Regional Cancer Centre; S. Dent, CCO Northwestern Ontario Regional Cancer Centre, Thunder Bay, Ontario; H. Abu-Zahra, CCO Windsor Regional Cancer Centre, Windsor, Ontario.

Correspondence to: Timothy Whelan, B.M., B.Ch., Supportive Cancer Care Research Unit, Hamilton Regional Cancer Center, 699 Concession St., Rm. 3–62, Hamilton, ON L8V 5C2 Canada (e-mail: tim.whelan{at}hrcc.on.ca).

Background: In recent years, patients have indicated a desire for more information about their disease and to be involved in making decisions about their care. We developed an aid called the "Decision Board" to help clinicians inform patients with lymph node-negative breast cancer of the risks and benefits of adjuvant chemotherapy. We determined whether adding the Decision Board to the medical consultation improved patient knowledge and satisfaction compared with the medical consultation alone. Methods: Between October 1995 and March 2000, 176 women with lymph node-negative breast cancer who were candidates for adjuvant chemotherapy were randomly assigned to receive the Decision Board plus the medical consultation (83 patients) or the medical consultation alone (93 patients). One week after the consultation, patients completed a questionnaire assessing their knowledge about breast cancer and chemotherapy. Satisfaction with decision making was assessed 1 week and 3, 6, and 12 months after randomization, and differences between groups were analyzed by a repeated measures analysis of variance. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: Patients in the Decision Board arm were better informed about breast cancer and adjuvant chemotherapy than patients in the control arm (mean knowledge score = 80.2 [on a scale of 0–100], 95% confidence interval [CI] = 77.1 to 83.3, and 71.7, 95% CI = 69.0 to 74.4, respectively; P<.001). Over the entire study period, satisfaction with decision making was higher for patients in the Decision Board arm than for patients in the control arm (P = .032). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in the number of patients who chose adjuvant chemotherapy (77% and 70% for patients in the Decision Board arm and those in the control arm, respectively; P = .303). Conclusion: When making decisions regarding adjuvant chemotherapy, patients with early breast cancer who had been exposed to the Decision Board had better knowledge of the disease and treatment options and greater satisfaction with their decision making than those who received the standard consultation.



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