Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Balancing The Presentation Of Information And Options In Patient Decision Aids: An Updated Review, Purva Abhyankar, Robert J. Volk, Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Paulina Bravo, Angela Buchholz, Elissa Ozanne, Dale C. Vidal, Nananda Col, Peep Stalmeier

Dartmouth Scholarship

Standards for patient decision aids require that information and options be presented in a balanced manner; this requirement is based on the argument that balanced presentation is essential to foster informed decision making. If information is presented in an incomplete/non-neutral manner, it can stimulate cognitive biases that can unduly affect individuals’ knowledge, perceptions of risks and benefits, and, ultimately, preferences. However, there is little clarity about what constitutes balance, and how it can be determined and enhanced. We conducted a literature review to examine the theoretical and empirical evidence related to balancing the presentation of information and options.