Piloting of a Decision Aid for Recurrent Tonsillitis.

OBJECTIVE

Currently, there is no adult-specific decision aid (DA) to support decision-making regarding recurrent tonsillitis. This study intends to address this gap by piloting a prototype DA.

DESIGN

Randomised clinical trial.

SETTING

Single centre trial at a tertiary otolaryngology department.

PARTICIPANTS

Forty-three patients were randomised to either the DA or Treatment as Usual (TAU) group.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary objective: To measure how patients rate the quality of their decision-making experience at the time of the decision and at follow-up (SURE scale).

SECONDARY

OBJECTIVE

The level of decisional satisfaction at the time of the decision and follow-up, as well as to explore the numbers of people opting for surgery for each study condition (Shared tool and patient feedback).

RESULTS

Quality: This study demonstrates no statistically significant difference in how patients rate the quality of their treatment decision between DA and TAU, both at baseline (p = 0.553) and follow-up (p = 0.062). Satisfaction: This study showed a statistically significant level of decisional satisfaction at the time the decision was made for Qu2 of the Shared tool (U = 113, p = 0.026). No other significant difference was found between participants who received the DA and TAU.

CONCLUSION

The DA is an acceptable and useful tool that could be incorporated into the pathway for recurrent tonsillitis, helping to eliminate physician implicit bias. However, preliminary qualitative evidence from this pilot study does not suggest that including the DA improves the quality of decision-making.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: IRAS ID - 230 362.