Patient Preferred and Perceived Control in Dental Care Decision Making.

Area of Science:

• Dental research
• Patient-centered care
• Health psychology

Background:

• Shared decision-making (SDM) is crucial in healthcare, empowering patients.
• While SDM is valued, dental patients' specific needs and perceptions require further assessment.
• Current literature lacks comprehensive data on patient involvement in dental decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate patients' preferred roles in various dental treatment decisions.
• To determine if patients' perceived involvement aligns with their preferences.
• To identify discrepancies in patient-doctor decision-making dynamics in dentistry.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 101 adult dental patients.
• Utilized a 14-item questionnaire based on the Control Preference Scale to assess preferred and perceived roles.
• Data collected before and after dental appointments, analyzed using Wilcoxon signed-rank test and multilevel mixed effects linear regression.

Main Results:

• Patients reported a statistically significant preference for more active involvement in 11 out of 14 dental decisions.
• Perceived roles matched preferred roles for less than half of the patients surveyed.
• Sociodemographic factors did not significantly influence the alignment between preferred and perceived roles.

Conclusions:

• Dental patients' perceived involvement in decision-making does not meet their stated preferences.
• Clinicians should actively encourage and facilitate greater patient participation in dental treatment planning.
• Enhancing patient roles in decision-making can improve informed consent and reduce decisional conflict.