Table 2.

Results from the Communicative Aspects checklist of colorectal cancer patient decision aids (DAs)

Item	IPDAS dimension	Item description	n	%
1	Information presentation	No of DAs that included probabilistic information	18	100
		Methods used to communicative probabilistic information:
2		Verbal
		Absolute risk descriptions	18	100
		Relative risk descriptions	11	61
3		Numerical
		Percentages	6	33
		Natural frequencies	13	72
		Absolute risks	8	44
		Relative risks	3	17
		Absolute risk reduction	0	0
		Relative risk reduction	3	17
		No needed to treat/harm	0	0
4		Visual
		Pie chart	1	6
		Bar chart	2	11
		Line graph	0	0
		Icon array	3	17
		Risk scale	0	0
5		No of DAs that described uncertainties around probabilities	16	89
		Methods used to communicate uncertainties (n=16):
6		Verbal
		Textual descriptions	16	100
7		Numerical
		Numerical range	6	38
8		Visual
		CIs	0	0
		Coloured pictograms	0	0
9		No of DAs that included disease-related information	17	94
		Methods to communicate this information (n=17):
10		Verbal (text)	17	100
11		Visual (illustrations)	12	71
12*		Audiovisual (video clips) (n=3)	2	67
13*		Audio (audio clips) (n=3)	2	67
14		No of DAs that included information about the procedures of treatments	17	94
		Methods used to communicate this information (n=17):
15		Verbal (text)	17	100
16		Visual (illustrations)	10	59
17*		Audiovisual (video clips) (n=3)	2	67
18*		Audio (audio clips) (n=3)	2	67
19		No of DAs that presented the information in a balanced and unbiased way	2	11
		Methods used for balanced and unbiased information:
20		Uses roughly the same amount of text for each option	8	44
21		Displays statistics in the same way for each option (n=13)	3	23
22		Uses similar fonts for each option	17	94
23		Uses language that is not biased in favour of a specific option	9	50
24		Presents equal no of positive features of each option (n=9)	1	11
25		Presents equal no of negative features of each option (n=16)	1	6
26		Keeps the order of positive and negative features constant (n=9)	7	78
27	Information control	The decision aid allows for patients to only receive information that they want to read	2	11
28		The decision aid provides a step-by-step way to move through the decision aid	12	67
29		The decision aid provides the patient the opportunity to read more about a specific topic of interest	12	67
30		The decision aid provides access to external sources	16	89
31		The decision aid provides access to internal sources	3	17
32		The decision aid allows for patients to search for key words	16	89
33*		The decision aid makes it easy for patients to return to previous parts of the decision aid (n=12)	7	39
34	Personalised information	Tailoring in general towards type of treatment	4	22
35		Tailoring in general towards specific populations	0	0
36		Tailoring in general towards specific disease factors	5	28
37		Tailoring in general towards specific stage of disease	4	22
38		Probability tailoring	0	0
39		Content tailoring	1	6
40		Mode of presentation tailoring	1	6
41	Interaction	No of decision aids that help patients to consider personal values and preferences	11	61
		Methods used to consider or assess values and preferences (n=11):
		Passive
42		Recommends patients to think about their values and preferences	10	91
		Asks patients for their personal values and preferences
		Active	7	64
43		Weighting exercises	2	18
44		Sliders to assign values to preferences	1	9
45		No of decision aids that help allow for comparison of positive and negative features of treatment options	4	22
		Methods used to compare positive and negative features of options (n=4):
46		Ranking or rating scale	0	0
47		Table to compare positive and negative features	3	75
48		Verbal comparisons	4	100
49		Discrete choice task	0	0
50		No of decision aids that provide patients the most suitable treatment option	0	0
		Methods used to provide feedback:
51		The decision aid shows the progress of the decision aid	4	22
52		The decision aid provides patients a summary of their values and preferences	1	6
53		The decision aid permits printing as a single document	16	89
54		The decision aid provides space for note taking	9	50
55		The decision aid includes a short knowledge test	2	11
56	Accessibility	The decision aid is freely available on the web	17	94
57		The decision aid requires no login code	18	100
58		The decision aid is not purely computer based	17	94
59		The decision aid requires no access to the internet for its use	17	94
60		The decision aid reports last update	16	89
61		The decision aid reports update frequency	6	33
62		The decision aid requires no staff assistance	17	94
63		The decision aid is self-administered	15	83
64		The decision aid can be used on multiple devices	18	100
65	Suitability	The decision aid contains less than 10 (web) pages	1	6
66*		The decision aid contains videos with a length of less than 1 min (n=)	0	0
67		The decision aid has a conversational (writing) style	13	72
68		The decision aid has irrelevant illustrations	8	44
69	Source of information	No of decision aids that mentioned on which datasets the probabilistic information are based on	1	6
		Types of datasets (n=1)
		Observational data	0	0
		Randomised controlled trials	1	100
		Patient reported outcomes data	0	0
		Data combined from different studies	1	100
		Types of outcome probabilities reported by the decision aid:
70		Mortality rate	5	28
		Survival rate	6	33
71		Incidence rate	4	22
		Progression free survival
72		Treatment side effects	13	72
73		Quality of life	8	44
		Types of information about the data(sets) provided by the decision aid (n=)
74		About what scale the patient data have been collected	0	0
75		About the no of patients on which the data are based on	0	0
		About the characteristics of patients on which the data are based on	0	0
76		About the period of time of data collection	2	11

*This item does not apply to paper-based decision aids.