Decision aid for pediatric sleep disordered breathing: A randomized trial.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Otolaryngology
• Health Decision Science

Background:

• Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in children presents complex treatment decisions for parents.
• Shared decision-making (SDM) is crucial for effective pediatric care.
• Parental decisional conflict can impact treatment adherence and satisfaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a decision aid (DA) on parental perceptions of SDM.
• To assess if a DA can reduce decisional conflict in parents of children with SDB.
• To explore the relationship between decisional conflict and SDM in this population.

Main Methods:

• A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted.
• 101 parents of children with mild to moderate SDB were randomized to use a DA or not.
• Outcomes included the Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS) and Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q-9).

Main Results:

• Parents using the DA reported significantly lower DCS scores (p=0.005) and higher SDM-Q-9 scores (p=0.035).
• Decisional conflict was negatively correlated with shared decision-making (Spearman's r = -0.680, p < 0.001).
• No significant difference in OPTION scores was observed between groups.

Conclusions:

• The decision aid effectively reduced decisional conflict for parents making SDB treatment decisions.
• The DA enhanced parents' perception of involvement in the decision-making process.
• Findings support the use of DAs to improve SDM in pediatric otolaryngology.