How do patients choose between active surveillance, radical prostatectomy, and radiotherapy? The effect of a preference-sensitive decision aid on treatment decision making for localized prostate cancer

Abstract Purpose To determine the effect of a decision aid (DA) on treatment preferences and to investigate which patient preferences are important for final treatment preferences. We also determined if the patient׳s treatment decision was influenced by the urologist׳s treatment preference. Patients and methods Between August 2014 and July 2015, newly diagnosed patients with low-/intermediate-risk prostate cancer were offered to use a web-based DA after diagnosis. Treatment preferences and patient׳s values were extracted from the DA. Urologists׳ treatment preferences were indicated at the time of inclusion. Results We included 181 patients, of whom 21% preferred active surveillance, 33% radical prostatectomy, 10% brachytherapy, 3% external beam radiotherapy, and 34% did not indicate a specific preferred treatment option after DA use (missing N = 6). Among 67%, treatment preference before DA use did not change after DA use. In men who chose active surveillance after DA use, 97% (37/38) preferred to postpone unnecessary treatment. For radical prostatectomy, 91% (52/57) of the patients valued tumor removal, and for brachytherapy, 88% (15/17) valued incontinence worse than bowel complaints. For 64% (missing N = 21) of the patients, urologists indicated one specific preferred treatment option as most suitable for the patient concerned. Agreement between final treatment decision and urologist׳s preference was lower ( κ = 0.68) than between final treatment decision and preferred treatment after DA use ( κ = 0.82). Conclusion Most patients with prostate cancer chose the treatment in accordance with the post-DA preference and to a lesser extent the urologists preference; implications of this are prospectively investigated in an ongoing study.