Patient decisions on dysplastic nevus management vary based on information framing

Source: Healio, January 2020

How clinicians frame the information presented to patients about dysplastic nevi diagnosis and management affects patient decision-making on surgical options, according to researchers in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

“It is crucial for clinicians to understand the influence of the words used to discuss DN with patients,” Chelsey Straight, MD, of the department of dermatology at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, and colleagues wrote. “Also, more data about the risk of malignant transformation is needed to inform patients’ and clinicians’ discussions of DN management.”

A patient survey investigated the influence of framing patients’ decisions on surgical management of dysplastic nevi (DN). The survey was made up of demographic items and scenarios with a description of DN and the risk for cutaneous melanoma. In each scenario, participants ranked their likelihood of choosing surgical excision.