ConclusionThis study firstly confir

Conclusion
This study firstly confirms that many of the outcomes addressed in shared decision-making research are important to consumers. These included perceived involvement in decisions and professional-consumer agreement. They also included anxiety, satisfaction with the way decisions are made and certainty that the best decision has been made, for which validated assessment scales exist.7,8,10 Secondly, however, these participants did not identify some outcomes addressed regularly in the literature, such as knowledge and accurate risk perception. This suggests that the emphasis on these outcomes to date may have been misplaced for a research field which aims to be ‘patient- or consumer-centred’.25

Thirdly, these participants identified new aspects which they regard as important. These included feeling respected and making a meaningful contribution to the discussions, as well as the opportunity to involve others, the availability of extra information sources, and clear arrangements for review of the treatment decision. Fourthly, these participants actively rejected adherence to treatment or health behaviour change as important outcomes. Such outcomes have been reported most frequently of all in the literature to date.

It seems fundamental that research in this topic area should evaluate the effects of training or other interventions in terms of the outcomes of most importance to consumers. We do not suggest a complete re-alignment of the outcomes measures for research, but the data in this study demonstrate a clear need to re-visit the types and range of outcomes for assessment. Further work should be conducted to confirm the areas of most importance to consumers. The generalizability of such findings or their specificity to certain countries or health-care systems must be addressed as part of this. When such findings are available, an informed discussion will be possible to decide whether consumers’ or professionals’ values and interests take precedence in driving and designing research for the future.