Does training general practitioners result in more shared decision making during consultations?

Area of Science:

• Healthcare research
• Clinical practice improvement
• Patient-centered care

Background:

• Shared decision-making (SDM) is crucial for patient recovery.
• General practitioners (GPs) play a key role in implementing SDM.
• Understanding the impact of SDM training on GP behavior is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effect of SDM training on GP behavior.
• To assess if trained GPs exhibit enhanced SDM and reinforcement of patient expectations.
• To compare consultation outcomes between trained and untrained GPs.

Main Methods:

• A clustered randomized controlled trial was conducted.
• 86 consultations by trained GPs and 89 by untrained GPs were analyzed.
• Primary outcomes included SDM (OPTION scale) and positive reinforcement; secondary outcomes were patient autonomy and consultation duration.

Main Results:

• Trained GPs demonstrated significantly higher SDM and patient autonomy.
• Consultations with trained GPs were, on average, three minutes longer.
• The average SDM score for the trained group remained below the average.

Conclusions:

• GP training enhanced SDM behaviors and patient autonomy.
• The observed improvements were not linked to adopting a patient perspective.
• Measuring the reinforcement of patients' positive expectations was unreliable.