Decision Aid to Technologically Enhance Shared Decision Making

Physicians face a challenge in promoting colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) in the face of multiple competing demands. A decision aid (DA) that clarifies patient preferences and improves decision quality could aid shared decision making (SDM) and be effective at increasing CRCS rates. However, exactly how such DA improves SDM is not clear. This 4-year R01 study funded by the National Cancer Institute seeks to provide detailed understanding of how an interactive DA affects patient-physician communication and SDM, and ultimately CRCS adherence.

This two-armed randomized controlled trial (300 patients/arm) will compare Colorectal Web (CW), the interactive DA, to a non-interactive control website in ten practices in Metro Detroit. Patients will be adults aged 50 years and over, not current on CRCS. In the clinic before the patient-physician encounter, participants will complete a Patient Baseline Survey. They will be randomized to CW or the control website. Data will be collected after the patient reviews the respective website (Post-Intervention Survey), during the patient-physician encounter (digital audio recording), and after it (Post-Encounter Survey). Chart audit will be performed six months after the encounter to determine whether the patient underwent CRCS.