Use of a computerised decision aid (DA) to inform the decision process on adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage II colorectal cancer: development and preliminary evaluation

OBJECTIVES: To develop a computerised decision aid (DA) to inform the decision process on adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage II colorectal cancer, and examine perceived usefulness, acceptability and areas for improvement of the DA. DESIGN: Mixed methods. SETTING: Single outpatient oncology department in central London. PARTICIPANTS: Consecutive recruitment of 13 patients with stage II colorectal cancer, 12 of whom completed the study. Inclusion criteria were: age >18 years; complete resection for stage II adenocarcinoma of the colon or rectum; patients within 14–56 days after surgery; no contraindication to adjuvant chemotherapy; able to give written informed consent. Exclusion criterion: previous chemotherapy. PRIMARY OUTCOMES: Patient perceived usefulness (assessed by the PrepDM questionnaire) and acceptability of the DA. RESULTS: PrepDM scores, measuring the perceived usefulness of the DA in preparing the patient to communicate with their doctor and make a health decision, were above those reported in other patient groups. Patient acceptability scores were also high; however, interviews showed that there was evidence of a lack of understanding of key information among some patients, in particular their baseline risk of recurrence, the net benefit of combination chemotherapy and the rationale for having chemotherapy when cancer had apparently gone. CONCLUSIONS: Patients found the DA acceptable and useful in supporting their decision about whether or not to have adjuvant chemotherapy. Suggested improvements for the DA include: sequential presentation of treatment options (eg, no treatment vs 1 drug, 1 drug vs 2 drugs) to enhance patient understanding of the difference between combination and single therapy, diagrams to help patients understand the rationale for chemotherapy to prevent a recurrence and inbuilt checks on patient understanding of baseline risk of recurrence and net benefit of chemotherapy.