OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess patients’ involvement in and experiences with decision making regarding implantable medical device (IMD) surgery.

METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was performed in August 2021 involving 1400 persons aged 40+ representative for the Hungarian general population. Health-related quality of life and digital health literacy were measured by the EQ-5D-5L and eHEALS questionnaires, respectively. Respondents who have had hip, knee, spine, tooth, breast implant, intraocular lens, dental bone graft, pacemaker, artificial cardiac valve, stent, abdominal mesh or continuous glucose monitor implantation in 2020/2021 were inquired retrospectively for their experiences with decision making regarding their IMD surgery. Respondents completed the 9-itemShared Decision Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q-9) and four questions of the patient reported experience measure (PREM) endorsed by the OECD. Descriptive statistics were performed, Spearman’s rho correlations were analysed between SDM-Q-9 and EQ-5D-5L, eHEALS scores.

RESULTS: Altogether 70 patients (female 60%) were involved with mean (SD) age of 60.1 (12.4) years, 47.1% had tertiary educational level; EQ-5D-5L index score was 0.80 (0.25), eHEALS was 27.9 (5.5). The average SDM-Q-9 score was 34.7 (SD 8.7; minimum: 16, maximum: 45); the lowest score was obtained on item 7 (‘My doctor and I thoroughly weighed the different treatment options’). The share of patients indicating ‘Yes, definitely’ on the PREM questions were as follows: the doctor spent enough time with the consultation 60.3%; the doctor provided easy-to-understand explanations 58.8%; the patient had opportunity to raise questions 64.7%; the patient was involved in the decision 57.4%. Only 33.8% indicated that the quality of the consultation was excellent. No significant correlations were found between SDM-Q-9, and EQ-5D-5L, eHEALS scores.

CONCLUSIONS: This small retrospective empirical study suggests that patients undergoing IMD surgery may have substantial unmet needs regarding the decision process. Further prospective studies are encouraged to confirm our results and analyse the explanatory factors in depth.