Decision making is a complex, multifaceted process. A number of outcome measures are needed to capture most of its aspects. Choice predisposition, expectations, decisional conflict and knowledge are important factors affecting choices and are affected by decision aids.

The tools available on this site are copyrighted but free of charge. To obtain permission to use the tools, please e-mail Dr. Annette O’Connor (aoconnor@ohri.ca) notifying her of your intention and cite the indicated reference in any publication. Dr. O’Connor is also happy to assist you with adapting the tools for your particular decision.

Evaluation Measures

The attached document includes a table which identifies the tools that we used to operationalize the variables in the Ottawa Decision Support Framework. In addition, a specimen of each of the following tools is included: choice predisposition, decision, knowledge, expectations and values.

The Adobe Acrobat version of this document can be found here

 

Decisional Conflict Scale

This tool measures patients’ degree of uncertainty about the course of action to take. This uncertainty can arise because of factors inherent in the decision itself (uncertainty about the outcome and the need to make value trade-offs between benefits and risks) and potentially modifiable factors (inadequate knowledge, unrealistic expectations, unclear values and norms, and inadequate support). The DCS is a 16-item scale consisting of five subscales: Certainty (Items 1- 3); Feeling Informed (Items 4-6); Clear Values (Items 7-9); Feeling Supported (Items 10-12); Quality of the decision (Items 13-16). The responses are in a 5-point Likert format. The DCS has been used in a number of decision contexts. Its test-retest coefficients and the alpha coefficients are > 0.80. It discriminates between those delaying and making decisions and between decision aids and usual care interventions (especially the Informed Subscale). A shorter, low-literacy version is available.

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The 16-item generic version of the scale click here (size 12K)

A document describing the psychometric properties and other versions of the scale for different clinical applications and populations (French, Spanish, low literacy) click here (size 118K)