Table 3.
Themes expressed related to decisional values
| Theme | Exemplar Quotes |
|---|---|
| Side effects | If I read up on the side effects of it- I would see if maybe I could manage with an alternative drug, you know? (NH-MCI-11) Yeah, but if you were to sit down and read the side effects you would never take the medication, you would shoot yourself first, you know? (NH-MCI-10) and I began to read and after about a year of taking that medicine, how bad these medicines were…And I was the one who educated myself about it…and I stopped taking the medicine, I did it on my own, and I know it’s not the best thing, but I had already read enough to be sure I had to stop taking the medicine. (H-MCI-21) |
| Regarding medications | Well, I would go along with the brand name because you don’t know if that other drug, even though it would’ve been approved by the FDA. . .and I would ask my doctor obviously if I really needed that drug because it was a question of if I had a serious illness, whether it would be – this other drug would work. (NH-MCI-10) |
| Costs | I’m also interested in how to make a medical decision about the cost. (H-MCI-19) You can go to someone who charges you less (H-MCI-18) Then money issues too, because if it’s – if something’s going to be very expensive, and that would mean, “Well, how am I going to eat?” And many people go without proper healthcare because of the cost issue. (NH-CN-5) |
| Have to experience the situation to know what decision you would make | You know, I think that’s hard to answer unless you have the experience . . .I don’t think you can say, “I would do this or that” until you’re there and you have to make a decision (NH-MCI-24) |
| Making a decision with balance |
Subtheme: Decisions driven by health status, treatment options, risks, expectations, and side effects That’s the risk evaluation. I mean, what your expectation would be and probabilities and so forth and just making a decision. (NH-MCI-23) Subtheme: Deciding for/against treatment I mean, if they tell me I need chemotherapy, I say no. The only thing they can give us is artificial respiration, mouth to mouth, that’s all...(H-MCI-15) Subtheme: Cure or treatment worse than disease/illness Well, if the cure’s worse than the – sickness then I would – probably decide not to take it, not to take the cure. (H-MCI-8) |
| Mechanism of action of treatment is plausible | You just like to have a logical reason why it’s working, you know? (NH-CN-18) |
NH: Non-Hispanic, H: Hispanic, MCI: Mild cognitive impairment, CN: Cognitively normal