Efficacy of a Patient-facing Decision Aid in Reducing Decision Anxiety and Improving Decision Readiness in Low Risk Thyroid Cancer
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Summary
Low-risk thyroid cancer grows very slowly. More than 99% of patients with this cancer survive for at least 5 years. There are 3 main treatment options: remove the whole thyroid, remove just the part of the thyroid with the cancer in it, or leave the cancer in the thyroid and monitor it. Survival is similar across the 3 main treatment options. It can be difficult for patients to choose a treatment option, especially when feeling anxious about the cancer diagnosis. In this study, enrolled patients will receive a decision aid after finding out they have cancer but before meeting a surgeon. This decision aid is a pamphlet. It gives information about the treatment options and a list of questions for patients to ask their surgeons at their clinic visit. The investigators will test whether this aid changes patient decision anxiety and decision readiness.
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * Low-risk thyroid cancer or thyroid nodule suspicious for malignancy * English-speaking Exclusion Criteria: * Prior consultation with surgeon regarding the thyroid nodule / cancer in question * Cancer/nodule has high risk features (e.g. extrathyroidal extension on ultrasound) * History of thyroid cancer * History of thyroid surgery * Currently pregnant (per patient report)
Interventions
- OtherDecision Aid
Decision aid developed by Pitt \& Saucke (2020) called CQUPLE (chart \& question prompt list)
Location
- University of Maryland, BaltimoreBaltimore, Maryland