Shared Decision-Making for Restoring Trust in the Management of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease in the Post-pandemic Era

Real-world data indicate that the management of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is suboptimal in clinical practice and that many patients fail to reach guideline-recommended LDL-C goals. This may be due in part to physician inertia with regard to prescribing appropriate lipid-lowering therapies or poor adherence to such therapies in real-world practice. Shared decision-making is a collaborative process in which patients and healthcare professionals work together to develop treatment plans and management strategies that consider an individual's values and preferences, as well as clinical evidence. In this commentary, two preventive cardiologists and a nurse practitioner working in US practice discuss their real-world experiences of shared decision-making as well as key benefits such as helping to tackle the negative impacts of medical misinformation to restore patients' trust in healthcare professionals. Other potential benefits of shared decision-making include increased adherence to therapy and greater trust between patients and healthcare professionals. Finally, the authors discuss proposed solutions for potential barriers to the implementation of shared decision-making, including the support of a multidisciplinary team, the provision of learning materials from trustworthy sources, and tailoring of discussions to the individual patient.