Shared Decision-Making During Initial Diagnostic and Treatment Planning Visits for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The findings come from one academic medical center and only six developmental behavioral pediatricians, so they may not apply to community clinics, private practice, or other specialties. The parent sample was small and included only English-speaking families, so results may not apply to families with different languages or backgrounds. Two parents had visits recorded but did not complete interviews, and those two visits were not scored, so the analysed sample may miss information about some families. Parent and provider shared decision-making ratings were collected after the visits, not immediately, and providers rated their average behaviour across the study, which may make recall less accurate. The study did not collect provider interviews about their own views, so it cannot explain why providers perceived more shared decision-making than observers recorded. This is an observational study of usual visits, so it cannot show what would improve shared decision-making.

The authors declared no conflict of interest. The article is listed as supported by NIH extramural funding.

Do not conclude that decision aids improve shared decision-making. This study did not test any intervention; it only observed visits and asked parents and providers about them.