Background: Assessment of users' information and decision-making needs is one key step in the development of decision-support interventions.
Objective: To identify patients' information and decision-making needs as a pre-requisite for the development of high-quality web-based patient decision aids (PtDAs) for common mental disorders.
Search strategy: A systematic MEDLINE search for papers published until December 2012 was conducted, and reference lists of included articles and relevant reviews were searched.
Inclusion criteria: Original studies containing data on information or decision-making needs of adults with depression, anxiety disorders, somatoform disorders, alcohol-related disorders and schizophrenia were included.
Data extraction and synthesis: Data extraction was performed using a standardized form, and data synthesis was conducted using a theory-based deductive approach by two independent reviewers. Studies were quality assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.
Main results: Twelve studies were included focusing on information needs or the identification of decisions patients with depression and schizophrenia were facing. No studies were found for the other mental disorders. Overall, seven information needs categories were identified with the topics 'basic facts', 'treatment' and 'coping' being of major relevance. Six decision categories were identified of which decisions on 'medication' and 'treatment setting' were most often classified.
Conclusions: This review reveals that patients with schizophrenia and depression show extensive information and decision-making needs. The identified needs can initially inform the design of PtDAs for schizophrenia and depression. However, there is an urgent need to investigate information and decision-making needs among patients with other mental disorders.
Keywords: mental disorders; needs assessment; shared decision making; systematic review.
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.