The Barriers and Facilitators of Shared Decision Making in Pediatric Otolaryngology: A Qualitative Study

To identify barriers and facilitators to implementing shared decision making (SDM) in pediatric otolaryngology.

A qualitative study.

Semistructured interviews of pediatric otolaryngologists.

The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) was used as a guide for data collection and analysis to consider capability, opportunity, and motivation (COM-B) factors. The focal surgical procedures were tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy, and tympanostomy tube placement. Deductive and inductive coding of interview transcripts according to TDF/COM-B domains were performed by 2 separate reviewers.

A total of 11 interviews were conducted to achieve data saturation. The 4 dominant themes were: (1) inconsistent inclusion of SDM elements in practice, (2) social influences from parents, (3) environmental context, and (4) applicability of SDM in otolaryngology. Theme 1 identified that surgeons perceived SDM as a feature of their practice. However, the discussion of parents' values was seen as less explicit and structured interview formats were not commonly employed. Theme 2 demonstrated that surgeons saw parents' preconsult "agenda" as influencing their openness to consider multiple treatment options. Theme 3 pointed to the barriers of short appointment times, challenges in the use of support staff and lack of decision aids. Theme 4 emphasized surgeons' belief in the value of SDM and that parents' involvement in decision making reduced likelihood of decisional regret.

Pediatric otolaryngologists strongly support the value of SDM during clinical encounters, particularly to allow parent ownership of decisions regarding treatment. The major barriers were lack of clinical translation of SDM knowledge, social influences, and environmental factors.