Criteria for Evaluating the Quality of Decision Aids: A Critical Appraisal of the IPDAS Presentation of Probabilities Domain

By applying the principles proposed by Charles et al for evaluating the appropriateness of goals defined for DAs, this paper offers a critical appraisal of the POP domain of the IPDAS quality criteria checklist. The critical appraisal suggests that there are a number of limitations associated with inclusion of the POP domain in the IPDAS quality criteria checklist. Therefore, the POP domain (and possibly the checklist overall) may not yet be suitable for use in the evaluating the development process, content and effectiveness of DAs. Instead of moving forward with the current checklist, further work should be done to: a) build a strong empirical and theoretical base upon which quality domains and their respective criteria can be proposed, b) clarify the goals for each proposed quality domain and c) establish clear definitions and measures for underlying constructs and key terms.