Preference for shared decision-making among Arabic-speaking people with chronic diseases: a cross-sectional study

To assess Arabic-speaking patients' preference for involvement in decision-making in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and characterise people who preferred involvement in decision-making.

Cross-sectional quantitative study. The conduct and reporting of this research complied with Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines for cross-sectional studies.

Participants were recruited from outpatient clinics of 10 major hospitals in four cities in the UAE: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah and Umm al Quwain.

Adult patients with at least one chronic disease completed a cross-sectional survey consisting of 37 items in six sections measuring variables that may influence preferred involvement in decision-making. These included health literacy, health status, unanswered questions about care and satisfaction with treatment decisions. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the predictors of patients' preferred involvement in decision-making.

A total of 516 participants completed the survey. One-in-four participants preferred shared decision-making. Preferred involvement in decision-making was more frequent among women, not married, unemployed, people who rarely/never had unanswered questions and participants with anxiety/depression symptoms. After adjustment, not being married (OR=1.634; 95% CI 1.049 to 2.544) remained as a predictor of preferred involvement in decision-making, while having unanswered questions (OR=0.612; 95% CI 0.393 to 0.954) and problems in self-care were predictors of a preference for paternalistic decision-making (OR=0.423; 95% CI 0.181 to 0.993).

Contrary to the results from Western countries, this study showed that a majority of Arabic-speaking patients with chronic diseases preferred a paternalistic decision-making model. At the same time, some subgroups of Arabic-speaking people (eg, women, unemployed patients) had a higher preference for participation in decision-making. Physicians' support and changes in healthcare systems are required to foster Arabic-speaking patients' involvement in treatment decision-making process.