A multicenter trial of a shared decision support intervention for patients and their caregivers offered destination therapy for advanced heart failure: DECIDE-LVAD

Background: Shared decision making is important to ensure that patients receive therapies aligned with their goals and values. Based upon a detailed needs assessment with diverse stakeholders, pamphlet and video decision aids for destination therapy left ventricular assist devices (DT LVAD) were developed to help patients and their caregivers think through, forecast, and deliberate their options. These decision aids are the foundation of the Multicenter Trial of a Shared Decision Support Intervention for Patients and their Caregivers Offered Destination Therapy for End-Stage Heart Failure (DECIDE-LVAD) study, a multicenter, randomized trial aimed at understanding the effectiveness and implementation of a shared decision support intervention for patients considering DT LVAD. Methods/Design: A stepped-wedge randomized controlled trial was designed, guided by the RE-AIM framework and modeled after an effectiveness-implementation hybrid type II design. Six DT LVAD programs from across the United States will participate. Primary outcomes include knowledge and values-treatment concordance. Patients with advanced heart failure who are being considered for DT LVAD and their caregivers are eligible with a target enrollment of 168 dyads. From August 2014 to January 2015, an acceptability and feasibility pilot study was performed, which clarified opportunities and challenges around decision support for DT LVAD and resulted in significant modifications to the DECIDE-LVAD study. Discussion: Study findings will provide a foundation for implementing decision support interventions, including decision aids, with patients who have chronic progressive illness facing end-of-life decisions involving invasive, preference-sensitive therapy options.