National Survey of Medical Decision Making

Investigators from the Survey Research Center and the Center for Behavioral and Decision Sciences in Medicine at the University of Michigan have conducted a nationwide survey to better understand how medical decisions are made. Specifically, the investigators studied the extent to which patients have basic information about their options and the implications of those options prior to making health-related decisions. The investigators also evaluated patients’ per ceptions of  the decision-making process.

Data for the National Survey of Medical Decision Making, referred to as the DECISIONS study, was gathered via telephone interviews with 3,010 participants age 40 and older. Researchers asked participants about discussions they had had with health care providers within the past two years regarding nine common medical decisions:  screening tests for colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer; prescription medications for hypertension, high cholesterol, and depression; and surgical interventions for knee or hip replacement, cataracts, and lower back pain.

The survey is unique in its scope; previous studies on medical decisions in the U.S. have focused strictly on one medical decision or on a specific geographic location, limiting the ability of researchers to generalize the resulting data to other sites or situations.

 

CLICK HERE to read the findings from the DECISIONS study, published in the Medical Decision Making journal.

This podcast was provided by the University of Michigan.