Shared decision making in realistic medicine: what works

Annex 1: Search Strategy

Literature searches were conducted using a range of databases (Knowledge and Evidence, science direct, scopus, pubmed) and search terms ('Shared Decision Making'; 'patient support'; 'person-centred care'; 'supported-decision making'; 'advocacy'; 'patient involvement'). Although the primary interest was in evidence from Scotland, a wider geographic search was carried out to capture other relevant evidence. Additional references were obtained from google searches, and discussions with subject matter experts^[10] (particularly references for reports and policy material).

Larger scale systematic reviews and meta-analyses on SDM were the focus, rather than smaller scale single condition studies, however some smaller scale studies were included when they specifically concerned the views of patients, clinicians, or the barriers and facilitators of SDM, or if they were of particular relevance to Scotland.

Initial searching identified a large number of articles. This was sifted to 150 (more relevant) articles which were used to inform and guide the report's framework. They were sifted through a review of their titles and abstracts to gauge relevance to the report aim and objectives, geographical coverage and scale of the study (meta-analysis or systematic reviews were preferred). Specifically 76 journal articles and policy reports were used as evidence within this report, along with supporting material from several relevant websites.