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Abstract
Introduction Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) is applied to a wide spectrum of (ischaemic) medical conditions. HBOT, with sessions taking 2 hours daily for 4 to 8 weeks, is known to be a demanding treatment. Due to the drop-out rates, related to the intensity and the varying effectiveness of HBOT, SDM should be included in the decision-making process when considering HBOT. The goal of this ongoing study is to assess the level of SDM perceived by HBOT patients and relate it to regret for choosing the treatment afterwards.
Methods Patients referred to HBOT were recruited for this prospective cohort study. Participants fill out the SDM-Q-9 questionnaire within 1 week of HBOT initiation. After 4–6 weeks of HBOT completion participants receive a Decision Regret questionnaire.
Results Eleven patients have completed the SDM-Q-9 questionnaire with a mean score of 48.7% (SD 36.5; range 0–100). High levels of SDM (67–100%) were reported in 4 participants (36.4%); medium levels (34–66%) in 3 participants (27.3%) and low levels (0–33%) in 4 participants (36.4%). Individual highest score (65.5%) was in item Q5 (‘My doctor helped me understand all the information’). Whereas the lowest score (35.6%) was in Q7 (‘My doctor and I thoroughly weighed the different treatment options’ ). Decision Regret Analysis cannot be performed yet due to participants not having reached this stage of the study yet.
Discussion The level of perceived SDM appears to be below average when compared to other studies reporting the SDM-Q-9.1 2 Data collection is expected to be completed by June 2024, which may yield different results from the currently small sample size.
Conclusion The decision to start HBOT is currently not being optimized according to the principles of SDM.
References
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Calderon C, Jiménez-Fonseca P, Ferrando PJ, et al. Psychometric properties of the Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q-9) in oncology practice. Int J Clin Health Psychol. 2018;18(2):143–151. doi:10.1016/j.ijchp.2017.12.001.