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Effect of physicians opinion on patients' choice of treatment
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Free University of Brussels (ULB), Hospital St Pierre, rue Haute 322, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium. serge.rozenberg@skynet.be
Background:
While it is obvious that patients should be involved in the decision making process, questions arise as to whether it is feasible to inform them objectively.
Objective:
To assess the impact of the physician's opinion, on the choice of treatment, to the patient.
Setting:
We imagined a hypothetical case of a 55-years-old woman with a high risk of osteoporosis. Two patient information letters were written, containing valid scientific information, but reflecting two diverging physicians' opinions, giving the choice between two available medications for osteoporosis prevention: hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), raloxifene.
Subjects:
We submitted one of the letters (by lottery) to 58 nurses. They were asked to act as this potential patient, and to choose which treatment they preferred to have prescribed.
Results:
23/30 women receiving the version favouring the use of HRT, preferred HRT, 26/28 receiving the version favouring SERM preferred this treatment (Chi-Square Pearson 37.3; P<0.001).
Conclusion:
The content of the information provided and its wording have a great influence on the patients' decision.