Decision aids in clinical practice

Decision aids can be a useful format to communicate evidence based information on harms and benefits of therapies to individual patients. When used as an adjunct to the consultation, decision aids can change the format of the consultation process; decision aids are designed to enhance communication and interaction between patient and practitioner—not to replace it. Decision aids are not indicated for each clinical decision or scenario and they may not appeal to all physicians. But trials evaluating decision aids in the United Kingdom concluded that they helped patients use information to clarify …