Development and application of patient decision aids.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Medical Decision Making
• Oncology

Background:

• Routine thyroid cancer screening in Korea has led to significant overdiagnosis.
• Overdiagnosis means identifying cancers that may never cause harm or require treatment.
• This situation necessitates public education on the nature of cancer and screening implications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce patient decision aids (PtDAs) and their role in informed healthcare choices.
• To explore the definition, benefits, and development of PtDAs.
• To advocate for the urgent development and implementation of Korean PtDAs for thyroid cancer screening.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on patient decision aids (PtDAs).
• Analysis of the impact of PtDAs on screening decisions, using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening as a comparative example.
• Discussion of the developmental processes and essential components of effective PtDAs.

Main Results:

• Exposure to PtDAs significantly reduced the uptake of prostate-specific antigen screening compared to usual care.
• PtDAs empower patients by providing clear information about screening benefits and harms.
• Evidence suggests PtDAs can mitigate overdiagnosis and overtreatment by facilitating shared decision-making.

Conclusions:

• PtDAs are effective tools for improving patient decision-making and reducing unnecessary medical interventions.
• There is a critical need for developing and implementing a Korean-specific PtDA for thyroid cancer screening.
• Such a tool would help address the current overdiagnosis issue and promote more appropriate screening practices in Korea.