NLM logo

National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR)

HSRProj (Health Services Research Projects in Progress)

Information about ongoing health services research and public health projects


Developing guidelines for reporting evaluation studies of patient decision aids
Investigator (PI): Sepucha, Karen R
Performing Organization (PO): (Current): Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine / (617) 643-7568
Supporting Agency (SA): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Initial Year: 2015
Final Year: 2016
Record Source/Award ID: RePorter/R13HS024250
Funding: 2015 Award Amount: $34,941
Award Type: Grant
Abstract: Patient decision aids (PDAs) are a key means to disseminate patient-centered outcomes research and comparative effectiveness research results to improve the quality of decisions influencing care. In order for PDA research to be fully adopted by academics, stakeholders with responsibility for in-service implementation, and the general public, the results of PDA research need to be understandable, transparent, and of consistent quality. However, systematic reviews have highlighted significant gaps in the quality of reporting of decision aid research. These findings prompted the development of an international workgroup to evaluate the need for reporting guidelines for PDAs. The workgroup has been following well-accepted guideline development methodology promoted by EQUATOR, an international clearinghouse for reporting guidelines. The group has already conducted a needs assessment, drafted an initial topic list, and conducted an environmental scan to identify any existing guidelines that may overlap or supplement the work. The results of these efforts have confirmed major deficits in reporting of PDA evaluation studies and gaps in currently available reporting guidelines for reporting PDA evaluations. To address these gaps, we propose to hold a three-day meeting in early October 2015 to convene the workgroup and key external stakeholders to generate reporting guideline documents. The documents will include (1) a consensus statement describing the PDA evaluation study reporting guidelines; (2) a reporting checklist, a brief structured summary of the key items that can be used to rapidly assess the items in a paper; and (3) an explanation and elaboration (E&E) document, which gives a detailed exposition of the rationale behind the items, often with examples of "good practice" from published papers. The results of this meeting will provide clear guidance to improve reporting of PDA studies, which in turn will advance the use of evidence to guide health decisions and improve the quality of care, advancing AHRQ's mission. AHRQ is a developer of PDAs, a major funder of PDA evaluation studies, and has a mission to make sure that evidence is understood and used.
MeSH Terms:
  • Congresses as Topic
  • * Decision Support Techniques
  • Guidelines as Topic
  • Health Services Research
  • Humans
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care
  • Quality of Health Care
  • United States
  • United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Country: United States
State: Massachusetts
Zip Code: 02114
UI: 20154197
Project Status: Completed