Patient Preferences

Patients valued lower invasiveness and avoiding loss of an entire adrenal gland. A focus group of patients with primary aldosteronism preferred adrenal-sparing ablation. Prior studies have found differences between physician and patient perspectives on treatment choices, and patient values are personal, making them hard to infer. The review found two major domains shaping patient preference, experience, and engagement: patient factors and device factors. Systematic review searches for evidence on patient attitudes toward interventions often produce little or no relevant evidence. A multinational patient survey found that only 4% would not consider ablation as an alternative or preliminary step before surgery. Patient preferences contributed to the WAVE non-inferiority margins. Patient involvement influenced the trial design, especially its focus on a less invasive adrenal-sparing alternative to surgery. Moving from evidence to recommendation requires panels to make judgments about the values and preferences of the target population. Patient-related factors included clinical characteristics, demographics, education, expectations, lived experience, preferences, daily life, and healt…