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Developing a patient decision aid for Achilles tendon rupture management: a mixed-methods study.
Jan F L Gan1, Marnee J McKay1, Caitlin M P Jones2
1Discipline of Physiotherapy, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia.
BMJ Open
|June 14, 2023
Summary
A new patient decision aid for Achilles tendon rupture management was found acceptable by patients and health professionals. Further research is needed to evaluate its impact on patient decision-making for Achilles tendon surgery.
Area of Science:
- Orthopaedics
- Patient Education
- Shared Decision-Making
Background:
- Achilles tendon ruptures require treatment decisions between non-surgical management and surgery.
- Patient decision aids can improve understanding of treatment benefits and harms.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and user-test a patient decision aid for Achilles tendon rupture management.
- To gather feedback from patients and health professionals on the aid's content and usability.
Main Methods:
- Mixed-methods approach involving semi-structured interviews and questionnaires.
- Iterative development cycle of drafting, feedback, and redrafting the decision aid.
- Reflexive thematic analysis for interviews and descriptive analysis for questionnaires.
Main Results:
- The developed patient decision aid was rated as good-to-excellent in acceptability by 18 health professionals and 15 patients.
- Stakeholders agreed on most aspects of the aid, but differing views existed on specific clinical details.
- The study identified key information for developing effective decision aids for Achilles tendon rupture.
Conclusions:
- The patient decision aid is an acceptable tool for patients and health professionals.
- Stakeholder input is crucial for developing effective decision aids for Achilles tendon rupture.
- A randomized controlled trial is warranted to assess the aid's impact on decision-making regarding Achilles tendon surgery.
