Abstract
Objective Currently, there is no adult specific decision aid (DA) to
support decision making around recurrent tonsillitis. This study intends
to address this gap by piloting a prototype DA. Design Randomised
clinical trial Setting Single centre trial at a tertiary
otolaryngology department. Participants 43 patients were randomised to
either the DA or Treatment as Usual (TAU) group. Main Outcome Measures
Primary objective: To measure how patients rate the quality of
their decision-making experience at the time of the decision and at
follow up (SURE scale). Secondary objective: The level of
decisional satisfaction at the time of the decision and at follow up;
and to explore the numbers of people opting for surgery from each study
condition. (SHARED tool and patient feedback) Results Quality:
This study demonstrates no statistically significant difference in the
degree by which patients rate the quality of their treatment decision
between DA and TAU, both at baseline (P = 0.553) and follow-up (P =
0.062). Satisfaction: This study showed a statistically
significant level of decisional satisfaction at the time the decision
was made for Qu2 of the shared tool (U = 113, P = 0.026). No other
significant difference was found between participants who received the
DA and TAU. Conclusion The DA is an acceptable and useful tool which
could be incorporated into the pathway for recurrent tonsillitis,
helping to eliminate physician implicit bias. However, preliminary
qualitative evidence from this pilot study does not suggest that
inclusion of the DA improves the quality of decision making.