ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Due to the diversity and high sensitivity of the treatment, there were difficulties and uncertainties in the breast cancer surgical decision-making process. We aimed to describe the patient's decision-making behaviour and shared decision-making (SDM)-related barriers and facilitators in breast cancer surgical treatment. METHODS: We searched eight databases for qualitative studies and mixed-method studies about breast cancer patients' surgical decision-making process from inception to March 2021. The quality of the studies was critically appraised by two researchers independently. We used a 'best fit framework approach' to analyze and synthesize the evidence. RESULTS: Twenty-eight qualitative studies and three mixed-method studies were included in this study. Four themes and 10 subthemes were extracted: (a) struggling with various considerations, (b) actual decision-making behaviours, (c) SDM not routinely implemented and (d) multiple facilitators and barriers to SDM. CONCLUSIONS: Patients had various considerations of breast surgery and SDM was not routinely implemented. There was a discrepancy between information exchange behaviours, value clarification, decision support utilization and SDM due to cognitive and behavioural biases. When individuals made surgical decisions, their behaviours were affected by individual-level and system-level factors. Therefore, healthcare providers and other stakeholders should constantly improve communication skills and collaboration, and emphasize the importance of decision support, so as to embed SDM into routine practice. PATIENT AND PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: This systematic review was conducted as part of a wider research entitled: Breast cancer patients' actual participation roles in surgical decision making: a mixed method research. The results of this project helped us to better analyze and generalize patients' views.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms , Humans , Female , Breast Neoplasms/surgery , Decision Making, Shared , Decision Making , Patient Participation , Qualitative ResearchABSTRACT
Due to the diversified and high sensitivity of breast cancer surgical treatment, various decision making styles show different functions in making trade-offs and sharing information. Shared decision making is the best practice paradigm to promote health outcomes. This study aimed to determine the overall frequency of shared decision making and explore influencing factors during the surgical decision-making process from breast cancer patients' perspectives. We searched 8 databases for studies about breast cancer patients' surgical decisional control preferences and shared decision making preference. Two researchers screened the literature, extracted the data, and evaluated the literature quality. Meta-analysis of the frequency of preferred and actual shared decision making and decision congruence was performed. Due to the limited studies of influencing factors, descriptive analysis was used. Fourteen original studies were included in this study. We found the overall pooled frequency of the preferred shared decision making of 48.1% (95%CI 33.5%, 62.6%) and the actual shared decision making of 38.1% (95%CI 33.9%, 42.2%). Moreover, the pooled frequency of the decision congruence between preferred and actual decision styles was 61.7% (95%CI 54.6%, 68.8%). The descriptive analysis findings indicated that the influencing factors of shared decision making included individual factors, surgeon-patient communication factors, and health setting factors. There was a gap between the preferred and actual decision styles in the surgical context. Therefore, health care providers should identify potential shared decision making barriers and facilitators, and advocate the clinical shared decision making model to embed shared decision making into routine practice.
