Abstract
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the gap between the knowledge and practice of shared decision making（SDM）and differences in goal setting according to patient’s age range and years of therapist’s experience.
Methods: A total of 115 therapists working with pediatric patients were surveyed via a web-based questionnaire to determine the burden of goal setting as well as the status and content of SDM practice related to goal setting. The results were compared in two groups according to years of the therapist’s experience, and the contents of free descriptions were subjected to qualitative descriptive analysis.
Results: Over two-thirds of the subjects felt burdened by goal setting. There was no difference in the status of SDM practice between the two groups, while there were differences in the content of goal setting based on the age of the target patients. Additionally, there was a discrepancy between the state of SDM practice and the outcome of the qualitative descriptive analysis.
Conclusions: Therapists in the pediatric field face a gap in their knowledge and practice of SDM, suggesting differences in the content of goal setting depending on the years of experience.
