Do patients' preferences matter?

doi:10.1136/bmj.a2034

Published 31 October 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2034
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2034

Editorials

Do patients’ preferences matter?

Yes, but to what extent is unclear

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Patients’ preferences are important. Where treatment choiceshave different and well understood outcomes, what matters mostwhen deciding which treatment is best is the patient’spreference. The intriguing question is whether strong treatmentpreferences can also affect outcomes—that is, can thepreferences themselves exert a therapeutic effect over and abovethe anticipated effects of compliance and attrition, and ifso, by how much? We know very little about this area. In thelinked study (doi:10.1136/bmj.a1864), the Preference CollaborativeReview Group reviews the effects of patient preferences on attritionand outcomes in trials of patients’ preferences usinga meta-analysis of individual patient data.¹

We know that the placebo effect can be profound. Its most plausiblemechanism of action involves belief in an effect, and this mustrelate strongly to preferences.² But a double blind trial ofplacebo versus nothing is needed to identify a placebo effect.Some meta-analyses have . . . [Full text of this article]

Klim McPherson, visiting professor of public health epidemiology

¹ Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Oxford University, Womens Centre, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 9DU

klim.mcpherson@obs-gyn.ox.ac.uk

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

StumbleUpon Add to Technorati

Technorati

Twitter What's this?

Relevant Articles

Patients’ preference and mental capacity: Anita Damle
BMJ 2009 338: b385. [Extract] [Full Text]

Patients’ preferences within randomised trials: systematic review and patient level meta-analysis: Preference Collaborative Review Group
BMJ 2008 337: a1864. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Synthesising licensing data to assess drug safety: Klim McPherson and Elina Hemminki
BMJ 2004 328: 518-520. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Incorporating patient preferences into clinical trials: Klim McPherson, Iain Chalmers, Sarah Clement, Jim Sikorski, Jennifer Wilson, Bridget Candy, David J Torgerson, and Bonnie Sibbald
BMJ 1998 317: 78. [Extract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Damle, A. (2009). Patients' preference and mental capacity. BMJ 338: b385-b385 [Full text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

patient preferences in mental health units: Ambreen Aslam
bmj.com, 4 Nov 2008 [Full text]
"randomised evidence is considered most rigorous": Julian C. Law
bmj.com, 11 Jan 2009 [Full text]
Patient preference and mental capacity: Anita Damle
bmj.com, 12 Jan 2009 [Full text]