Abstract
Background: In order to involve patients in collaborative decisions
(SDM), they need to know the treatment options and determine the
patient’s preferences from the doctors. This process is a must to be
evaluated in the Republic of Moldova. Objective: The study’s aim was to
evaluate Shared Decision Making in adult strabismus care from both
patients’ and physicians’ perspectives. Material and methods: A
prospective, transversal study was conducted. Sixty nine adult
strabismus patients and their attending physician were asked to fill out
the SDM-9 and SDM-9-DOC questionnaires related to their perception of
SDM during the entire period of strabismus treatment. After treatment,
patients were asked to describe their satisfaction level. Results: All
the participants completed the questionnaire (mean age = 29.7 ± 6.9
years, 49.3% female and 50.7% male). The mean SDM-Q-9 score among the
patients was 78.42% (IQR = 75.6–82.2%). The mean SDM-Q-Doc score was
86.7% (IQR 84.4–88.9%). The SDM-Q-Doc values were consistently higher
than the SDM-Q-9 values (average difference of 6.7%). Female and yang
patients reported a lower SDM score. Pearson correlation test revealed a
positive significant correlation between both SDM-Q-9 score and patient
satisfaction t (69)= .28, p .02. Conclusions: Our research pointed out
blanks in assessing patient information needs as the main obstacles to
SDM. Doctors are more confident in their belief that the information
provided as well as deliberations and the shared decision process are
performed at a high level compared to patients’ expectations. These
findings can serve as a springboard to further improve communication and
SDM between patients and physicians, thereby raising patient
satisfaction.