Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy
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Treatment burden, the burden associated with the treatment and management of chronic illness, has not yet been well articulated. ⋯ The findings underscore the need for researchers and health-care professionals to engage in collaborative discussions and make cooperative efforts to help alleviate treatment burden and tailor treatment regimens to the realities of people's daily lives.
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The hundreds of thousands of patients found to have a potentially malignant pulmonary nodule each year are faced with tremendous uncertainty regarding what the nodule is and how it should be evaluated. ⋯ Surveillance for a pulmonary nodule can weigh heavily on some patients for months or years. Our findings may help clinicians prepare patients with a newly detected pulmonary nodule for the burden of the prolonged uncertainty of surveillance.
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Newborn bloodspot screening (NBS) panels have expanded to include conditions for which treatment effects are less certain, creating debate about population-based screening criteria. We investigated Canadian public expectations and values regarding the types of conditions that should be included in NBS and whether parents should provide consent. ⋯ Anticipated benefits of expanded infant screening were prioritized over harms, with information provision perceived as a mechanism for mitigating harms and enabling choice. However, we urge caution around the potential for public enthusiasm to foster unlimited uptake of infant screening technologies.
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The decisional conflict scale (DCS) measures the perception of uncertainty in choosing options, factors contributing to decision conflict and effective decision making. This study examined the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the DCS in Hong Kong Chinese women deciding breast cancer (BC) surgery. ⋯ The three-factor DCS-14 is a valid and practical measure for assessing decisional conflict in deciding BC surgery. It shows good potential for use in assessing decision satisfaction for women diagnosed with BC.