The Depiction of Autonomy and Shared Decision-Making by Children and Adolescents in Medical Television

Background Many studies have shown the importance of patient autonomy and shared decision-making in medical treatment. However, television (TV) depiction of medicine continues to present a skewed depiction of healthcare and its effects. This has been observed in adult patients but little has been studied in the pediatric population. Methodology This study analyzed the depiction of pediatric patients (7-18 years old) autonomy and their participation in the shared decision-making process in the first season of medical TV dramas that premiered from 1994 to 2017, including ER (1994), Grey’s Anatomy (2005), Red Band Society (2014), and The Good Doctor (2017). These shows were scored to record each instance of a medical decision made. Results Of the 238 medical decisions recorded, pediatric patients made a medical decision 61 times (57.5%). A total of 110 instances were omitted due to the patient’s inability to give consent, usually due to altered mental status, and 22 instances were omitted due to age being less than seven years. Interestingly, there was an increasing proportion of pediatric patients involved in the decision-making process over time, moving from 17 of 39 medical decisions (43.6%) of patients in ER (1994) to 22 of 33 medical decisions (66.7%) in The Good Doctor (2017) (p = 0.050213). Conclusions The results revealed that TV medical dramas have been including children in their medical decision-making more over time. This has major implications for the way writers structure their shows and how medical providers interact with their patients.