[Clinical drug profiles: an instrument to improve shared decision-making]

Doctors and patients are increasingly choosing treatment options by means of the shared decision-making process. However, human decisions are subject to cognitive bias, i.e. systematic and predictable errors in probability estimation and information synthesis. Decision-making may also be hampered by incomplete information. Clinical Drug Profiles (CDPs) aim to provide up-to-date, evidence-based and independent information about drug characteristics that are relevant to doctors and patients alike in the context of shared decision-making. They contain information about mechanisms of action, mode and frequency of administration, clinical efficacy, therapeutic effectiveness, side effects, persistence and adherence, and safety monitoring. CDPs are to be made freely available on the internet, thus enabling doctors and patients to obtain drug-specific information on potential benefits and risks, before or during the decision-making process. In addition, the patient can make a subjective appraisal of the chances of success and the risk of side effects. In all, CDPs increase the likelihood that two major conditions of successful shared decision-making are met: minimisation of cognitive bias and complete information.