Missed expectations? Physicians' views of patients' participation in medical decision-making

Amy L. McGuire, Laurence B. McCullough, Susan C. Weller, Simon N. Whitney

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    52 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Objective: Physicians are encouraged to actively involve patients in clinical decision-making, but this expectation has not been adequately examined from the physicians' perspective. Our objective was to identify and characterize physicians' attitudes toward patient participation in decision-making and to gain insight into how they consequently think about and structure the decision-making process. Design: This was a qualitative cross-sectional study of physicians' reported attitudes and practices. Setting: The study took place in private practice and academic physicians' practices. Participants: A total of 53 academic and private practice physicians from primary care and surgical specialties, ranging from first year residents to recently retired, participated in the study. Measurements: We performed a qualitative analysis of semistructured individual interviews. Results: The physicians in this study expressed consistently positive attitudes toward patient participation in medical decision-making. They identified patient autonomy as an essential justification for patient participation but often went beyond an autonomy-based rationale. Several were motivated by the fundamental principle of beneficence as well as their own self-interest in avoiding legal liability. Many physicians saw their role as an expert who educates the patient but retains control over the decision-making process; others took a more collaborative approach, encouraging patients to assume decisional priority. The decision-making process often was modified by patient, physician, and environmental factors. Conclusions: The physicians in this study demonstrated a positive, flexible approach toward including patients in decision-making. A one-dimensional model of shared decision-making based solely on the principle of autonomy fails to account for variability in how physicians allocate decisional priority and is therefore ethically inadequate.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)466-470
    Number of pages5
    JournalMedical care
    Volume43
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    StatePublished - May 1 2005

    Keywords

    • Decision-making
    • Ethics
    • Informed consent
    • Medical
    • Models
    • Patient participation
    • Physician-patient relations
    • Qualitative research
    • Theoretical

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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