IPDAS Versions & Use

The criteria of the International Patient Decision Aid Standards (IPDAS) can be used for assessing the quality of patient decision aids. Below are several different ways the IPDAS criteria are used and approved translated versions. For translation to other languages, please refer to the IPDAS Translation Approval Process.

1. Apply the IPDAS criteria to a patient decision aid. The 3 different IPDAS versions are:
   • Original IPDAS checklist (74 items)
     • Reference: Developing a quality criteria framework for patient decision aids: online international Delphi consensus process. Elwyn G, O'Connor A, Stacey D, Volk R, Edwards A, Coulter A, Thomson R, Barratt A, Barry M, Bernstein S, Butow P, Clarke A, Entwistle V, Feldman-Stewart D, Holmes-Rovner M, Llewellyn-Thomas H, Moumjid N, Mulley A, Ruland C, Sepucha K, Sykes A, Whelan T; International Patient Decision Aids Standards (IPDAS) Collaboration. BMJ. 2006 Aug 26;333(7565):417.
   • IPDASi instrument (47 items)
     • Reference: Assessing the quality of decision support technologies using the International Patient Decision Aid Standards instrument (IPDASi). Elwyn G, O'Connor AM, Bennett C, Newcombe RG, Politi M, Durand MA, Drake E, Joseph-Williams N, Khangura S, Saarimaki A, Sivell S, Stiel M, Bernstein SJ, Col N, Coulter A, Eden K, Härter M, Rovner MH, Moumjid N, Stacey D, Thomson R, Whelan T, van der Weijden T, Edwards A. PLoS One. 2009;4(3):e4705.
   • IPDAS Minimal criteria (44 items)
     • This version (v.4.0) groups criteria into qualifying, certifying, and quality. The qualifying criteria are helpful for determining if a resource is a patient decision aid. Version 4.0 was used to inform the certification/approval programs established in different countries.
     • Reference: Toward Minimum Standards for Certifying Patient Decision Aids: A Modified Delphi Consensus Process. Joseph-Williams N, Newcombe R, Politi M, Durand MA, Sivell S, Stacey D, O'Connor A, Volk RJ, Edwards A, Bennett C, Pignone M, Thomson R, Elwyn G. Medical Decision Making. 2014 34(6):699-710.
2. IPDAS criteria are used by the Ottawa Patient Decision Aids Group in the Decision Aid Library Inventory (DALI)
   • Developers can register their patient decision aids in DALI and as part of the process they are prompted to use the IPDAS criteria. If the decision aid is publicly available, it is included in the A to Z Inventory showing the IPDAS results. Before being included in the A to Z Inventory, there is an administrative review and approval that takes 2 to 4 weeks. For questions, contact decisionaid@ohri.ca.
3. Japanese version of IPDAS
   • The IPDAS (version 4.0) criteria are available in Japanese. More information available from the Japanese Health Literacy website.
4. Use of IPDAS in Norway
   • The Norwegian Health Directorate used the IPDAS standards to establish a set of quality criteria for approving patient decision aids prior to being added to the Norwegian health platform.
5. Use of IPDAS in Spain
   • A Spanish version of IPDAS is available in the Manual con criterios de evaluación y validación de las Herramientas de Ayuda para la Toma de Decisiones.
6. Use of IPDAS in Washington State Health Care Authority, USA
   • Since 2016, Washington State Health Care Authority certifies patient decision aids using criteria based on IPDAS. For more information visit their website.
7. Chinese version of IPDAS
   • A Chinese version of the International Patient Decision Aid Standards v4.0 and Interpretations. is available.
8. Traditional Chinese version of IPDAS
   • A Traditional Chinese version of the International Patient Decision Aid Standards v4.0. is available.