This commentary article criticizes the current practice in
health care to conduct cancer screening without first informing
patients about the benefits and harms of screening tests.
Stefanek believes that the lack of transparent presentation of
data about known harms and benefits has resulted in a bias
towards screening and an inflated view of how much the reduction
in cancer mortality can be attributed to cancer screening
overall. Stefanek proposes that effort should be refocused on
educating rather than persuading the public. Support for a model
of shared medical decision making, where women and their care
providers discuss risks and benefits of their different options,
reveal their preferences, and jointly make a decision, is a
growing expectation in obstetric care. The objective of this
study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of
randomized controlled trials evaluating the efficacy of
different decision aid tools compared to regular care for women
facing several option in the specific fie