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OBJECTIVES
To determine whether men with small abdominal aortic aneurysm have a preference between either endovascular or open aneurysm repair for future treatment.

DESIGN
Prospective study of self-declared treatment preference following receipt of a validated patient information pack.

PARTICIPANTS
Men aged 65-84 years (n=237) with asymptomatic aneurysm (4.0-5.4 cm) detected by population-based screening.

METHODS
An unbiased, validated patient information pack and questionnaire were developed to conduct a postal survey.

RESULTS
One hundred sixty seven participants (70%) returned a completed questionnaire; 24 (10%) did not respond at all. Initially, only 38 (23%) declared a treatment preference. After reading the information pack, 130 participants (80%) declared a treatment preference: 30 preferred open repair (18%), 77 endovascular repair (46%), 23 were happy with either option (14%) and only 34 remained without any preference (20%). Nearly all (92%) thought that the information pack had prepared them well for future discussions with clinicians and with no single feature identified as influencing the preference-making process, 66 respondents (40%) still opted to 'take the advice of the doctor'.

CONCLUSION
The patient information pack facilitated the development of treatment preferences with endovascular repair being preferred to open repair. Nevertheless for patient-centred care, vascular centres must continue to safely provide both open and endovascular repair.