Effect of a patient decision aid for intraocular lens selection in cataract surgery

To evaluate the effectiveness and usability of a patient decision aid (PDA) for intraocular lens (IOL) selection in cataract surgery, and to provide insights for promoting shared decision-making (SDM) and enhancing patient decision satisfaction.

A quasi-experimental study was conducted at an eye specialty hospital in Zhejiang, China. Using convenience sampling, 210 patients were equally allocated to two groups of 105 each. The control group received routine care, whereas the intervention group received the PDA for IOL selection plus routine care. Outcomes were measured using the Preparation for Decision-Making (PrepDM) scale, the 9-item Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q-9), and the Satisfaction With Decision (SWD) instrument.

The statistical analysis demonstrated clear advantages of the intervention over the control across all three measures. On the PrepDM scale, the median score was 60 (IQR 46, 73) and 30 (IQR 20, 68) for the intervention and the control groups, respectively (Z = -4.691, P < 0.001). Performance on the SDM-Q-9 followed a similar pattern, with medians of 77.78 (IQR 71.11,86.67) for the intervention and 68.89 (IQR 20, 84.44) for controls (Z = -4.523, P < 0.001). For the SWD instrument, the intervention group also reported a higher score of 24 (IQR 22, 26) than the control group of 22 (IQR 16, 25) (Z = -4.023, P < 0.001).

The PDA for IOL selection effectively supports cataract surgery patients, leading to enhanced PrepDM, improved SDM, and increased SWD.

Using the PDA for IOL selection can enhance patients' engagement and improve decision quality in cataract surgery.