Most patients prefer to make medical decisions with doctor

NEW HAVEN, Conn., May 28 (UPI) -- Most U.S. patients prefer to be actively involved in their medical decision-making with their doctor, researchers say.

Dr. Harlan M. Krumholz of the Yale University School of Medicine and colleagues said they sought to investigate preferences for participation in the decision-making process among individuals hospitalized with an acute myocardial infarction or heart attack.

The researchers combined data from two similar heart attack registries which resulted in 6,636 patients in the study sample. The heart attack patients were asked about who should make decisions on treatment options.

"More than two-thirds of patients with a heart attack indicated a preference to play an active role in the decision-making process, and of those, about a quarter preferred that the decision be theirs alone rather than shared with their physician," the authors wrote in the study. "Our findings indicates physicians who aspire to provide patient-centered care should assess patients' decision-making preferences by directly asking each patient."

The findings were published in the journal Internal Medicine.