Methods
This study was implemented in the Republic of Moldova Republican
Clinical Hospital from January 2017 to July 2019. Among the participants
were adult patients with manifest strabismus who needed a surgical
correction and, where more than one techniques was enforceable (simetry
surgery, asimetric surgery, ajustable stitch) and their doctor. Patients
were enrolled in this study if they met the following criteria: (1) 18
years and older, (2) a confirmed diagnosis of manifest strabismus
through orthoptic examination, and (3) Romanian communicative skills and
presented the written agreemnet. The exclusion criteria were as follows:
(1) severe cognitive impairment and (2) study involvement disapproval.
The patients were informed about the study by their healthcare provider.
They were thoroughly informed and assured that refusing to participate
would not affect their treatment in any way.
This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the
Helsinki Declaration. Board of Directors for Medical Ethics, State
University of Medicine and Pharmacy ” Nicolae Testemitanu” approved
the study.
All patients underwent a detailed ocular examination and orthoptic
evaluation before being subjected to strabismus surgery.
Before the study, patients basic demographic data on age, gender,
diagnosis and number of consulation needed to reach a joint patient -
doctor decision were registered. After the final consultation the
patients completed the SDM-Q-9 questionnaire. In this previously
approved questionnaire, the SDM level is assessed subjectively by
evaluating the nine phases of the decision-making process from the
patient’s perspective on a 6-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (not at
all) to 5 (fully applicable). The doctor also filled out the SDM-Q-Doc
questionnaire immediately after the consultation. This questionnaire was
developed to measure the behavior of SDM from a doctor’s perspective and
addresses the same problems as SDM-Q-9 for patients14. Romanian version had good internal consistency
with 0.96 as the Cronbach α coefficient 18.
After treatment, patients were asked to rate their satisfaction with the
surgical outcome as excellent, good, fair, and bad using the Face-Q
scale (a 4-point scale)19. Fig. 1