Decisional Quality for Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

Decisional Quality for Patients With Stable Coronary Artery Disease

The objective of the DeQCAD study is to measure the quality of the decision-making process for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) who are making treatment decisions. In particular, this study is seeking to answer: a) How informed are patients about their treatment choices, b) are patients participating in the decision-making process as much as they would like to, and c) do the treatment decisions made match patients' preferences?

For patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), having a stent (or percutaneous coronary intervention or PCI) involves both risk and inconvenience, and thus it represents a classic "preference-sensitive" situation, in which treatment decisions should be aligned with the patient's preferences.

In this project the investigators will develop the first comprehensive, patient-reported measure of decisional quality for CAD that is feasible to implement in a variety of settings. The investigators will accomplish this by: 1) Identifying the key elements to capture decisional quality and identifying candidate questions to address these elements, using patient and expert feedback; 2) Pilot testing a preliminary instrument in a diverse patient population to assess measurement properties and select a reduced set of candidate questions for further testing; and 3) Establish the reliability and validity of a new comprehensive decisional quality measure for single and repeated examinations. This will result in a multidimensional decisional quality instrument for patients with CAD that will be ready for implementation into routine care.

Inclusion criteria:

1. Patients ≥ 18 years old

2. Able to answer survey questions in English

3. Diagnosis of coronary artery disease in one of the following categories:

   1. Stable CAD group

      • Meets any 1 of the following 3 criteria for stable CAD: 1) The patient has a clinical diagnosis or prior history of CAD; 2) Angina without change in frequency or pattern for the 6 weeks prior to enrollment; 3) Angina is controlled by rest and/or sublingual/oral/transcutaneous medications.
      • Accelerating pattern of stable angina with: 1) no ECG changes at rest; 2) no cardiac marker evidence of myocardial necrosis (e.g., elevated troponin or CK-MB); 3) scheduled for elective or urgent cardiac catheterization after being evaluated in the outpatient setting (i.e., not from the emergency department or inpatient hospitalization).

   2. Acute coronary syndrome group • Acute coronary syndrome where there is cardiac marker evidence of myocardial necrosis (e.g., elevated troponin or CK-MB) without new ST-segment elevation. Includes non-ST-elevation MI (NSTEMI).

Exclusion criteria:

1. Diagnosis of ST-elevation MI (STEMI), defined as an acute coronary syndrome in which there is cardiac marker evidence of myocardial necrosis (eg, positive troponin or CK-MB) and new (or presumably new if no prior ECG is available) ST-segment elevation or left bundle branch block on the admission ECG.
2. Unstable angina, defined as 1) Angina occurring at rest and prolonged, usually ≥ 10 minutes; 2) New onset angina of at least CCS classification III severity (i.e., marked limitation of ordinary physical activity - angina occurs on walking 1 to 2 blocks on the level and climbing 1 flight of stairs in normal conditions and at a normal pace); 3) no cardiac marker evidence of myocardial necrosis (e.g., negative troponin or CK-MB).
3. Acute coronary syndrome with hemodynamic instability (e.g., cardiogenic shock, hypotension, cardiac arrest, ongoing or recurrent chest pain, dynamic ST change).
4. Noncardiac chest pain: Pain in the chest, neck, arms, or abdomen (or other clinical manifestation) not clearly exertional or not otherwise consistent with pain or discomfort of myocardial ischemic origin.
5. Cognitive impairment such that the patient cannot give informed consent for himself or herself.
6. Unable to answer survey questions in English.
7. Unavailable for follow-up surveys