Our specific aims are:
1. To develop a web-based interactive decision support tool to incorporate tailored information regarding risks and benefits of the treatment options (from regression-based prediction models derived on the 35,000 patients already in the MBSC registry) with information regarding other salient attributes of the treatment options (derived from focus groups and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders including bariatric surgery patients, bariatric program staff, and surgeons).
2. To perform a quasi-experimental study comparing the decision support tool with usual care to determine its effects on patient decisions (treatment choice, knowledge, treatment-preference concordance, and decisional conflict) and on patient outcomes including weight loss, patient satisfaction, and improvements in quality of life after surgery.
This research is closely aligned with the goals of PCORI and will have direct impacts on patients and caregivers by providing information that is required to improve healthcare decision-making for this prevalent, damaging, and costly condition.
