Preferences Regarding Shared Decision-Making in Japanese Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients

Introduction: Recent studies have indicated that patients are showing increased interest in playing a larger role in making decisions regarding their medical treatment. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disease that manifests either as Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). IBD treatment is multifaceted and dependent on patient-specific factors. The selection of treatment options is mostly driven by physicians, and it is unclear to what degree patients are involved in shared decision-making (SDM). The objective of the current study is to assess preferences among Japanese patients with IBD in regard to SDM during their treatment for IBD. Methods: A nationwide web-based survey was performed in Japan during February 2016. The patients were asked for their basic clinical characteristics, socioeconomic status, medical history, treatment details, and preferences regarding SDM in IBD treatment. Differences were analyzed by chi-square, t tests, a multiple regression analysis, and ordered logistic regression analysis. Results: In response to the screening survey, a total of 1068 Japanese nationals met the inclusion criteria for this study of being patients diagnosed with IBD who are currently receiving treatment. Of these, 235 had CD and 800 UC; 33 were not specified. Overall, the majority of these patients felt that SDM was very important. Furthermore, interest in SDM was strongly associated with certain disease comorbidities, surgical history, and current treatment, although there were some differences in the results between CD and UC. Conclusion: The present study found that the majority of IBD patients in Japan wanted to have a role in their treatment plan. The results indicate that the patient's preference in regard to SDM was driven by their perception of the severity or progression of their disease.