Shared Decision Making and Treatment Satisfaction in Japanese Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a range of complex disorders that imposes a high burden on patients' quality of life and on available health resources. Only 50% of those with this disease appear to be satisfied with the treatment methods. Therefore, this has a negative effect on their willingness to comply with treatment. Objective: This study examined whether patients are more satisfied when they and their doctors agree on how much of their management decisions should be shared. Participants: A nationwide online survey of Japanese patients in treatment for IBD yielded 1,068 respondents. Methods: A scoring system to match patients' preference for shared decision-making and their actual involvement in their treatment decisions was devised. To assess factors that were associated with treatment satisfaction, univariate and multivariate logistic regressions were performed. Results: We found a clear correlation between the extent to which patients and their doctors agreed on decision-sharing and patients' overall satisfaction with their treatment. An excellent fit increased the odds ratio of being satisfied with the treatment by 16.48 (8.31-32.69). Conclusions: Physicians should expect best patient compliance when they and their patients are in agreement with the extent to which treatment decisions are shared. This in turn maximizes the likelihood of successful treatment outcome. (C) 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel