How should patients behave to facilitate shared decision making – the doctors’ view

Objective  To study how physicians feel about patients’ efforts to be engaged in shared decision making (SDM). Study setting and design  Survey of physicians from distinctly different medical disciplines (238 psychiatrists and 169 vascular surgeons). Participants were requested to judge which patient behaviours they find helpful and which behaviours detrimental for SDM. Results  Psychiatrists and surgeons had rather positive attitudes about active patient behaviours. However, there were quite a few patient behaviours (e.g. searching the Internet, being assertive towards the doctor) which provoked ambivalent or negative attitudes. Discussion and conclusions  Physicians are generally quite open towards active patient behaviour in the consultation. They, however, do consider it as less helpful and become more annoyed if patients insist on their preferences and doubt their doctors’ recommendations. Physicians must realize that SDM implies giving up decisional power and try to be more flexible in their interactions with patients.