Exploring variation in surgical practice: does surgeon personality influence anastomotic decision-making?

Bisset, Carly N.; Ferguson, Eamonn; MacDermid, Ewan; Stein, Sharon L.; Yassin, Nuha; Dames, Nicola; Keller, Deborah S.; Oliphant, Raymond; Parson, Simon H.; Cleland, Jennifer; Moug, Susan J.; Plato Project Steering Group Collaborators

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Decision-making under uncertainty may be influenced by an individual's personality. The primary aim was to explore associations between surgeon personality traits and colorectal anastomotic decision-making. METHODS: Colorectal surgeons worldwide participated in a two-part online survey. Part 1 evaluated surgeon characteristics using the Big Five Inventory to measure personality (five domains: agreeableness; conscientiousness; extraversion; emotional stability; openness) in response to scenarios presented in Part 2 involving anastomotic decisions (i.e. rejoining the bowel with/without temporary stomas, or permanent diversion with end colostomy). Anastomotic decisions were compared using repeated-measure ANOVA. Mean scores of traits domains were compared with normative data using two-tailed t tests. RESULTS: In total, 186 surgeons participated, with 127 surgeons completing both parts of the survey (68.3 per cent). One hundred and thirty-one surgeons were male (70.4 per cent) and 144 were based in Europe (77.4 per cent). Forty-one per cent (77 surgeons) had begun independent practice within the last 5 years. Surgeon personality differed from the general population, with statistically significantly higher levels of emotional stability (3.25 versus 2.97 respectively), lower levels of agreeableness (3.03 versus 3.74), extraversion (2.81 versus 3.38) and openness (3.19 versus 3.67), and similar levels of conscientiousness (3.42 versus 3.40 (all P <0.001)). Female surgeons had significantly lower levels of openness (P <0.001) than males (3.06 versus 3.25). Personality was associated with anastomotic decision-making in specific scenarios. CONCLUSION: Colorectal surgeons have different personality traits from the general population. Certain traits seem to be associated with anastomotic decision-making but only in specific scenarios. Further exploration of the association of personality, risk-taking, and decision-making in surgery is necessary.

Citation

Bisset, C. N., Ferguson, E., MacDermid, E., Stein, S. L., Yassin, N., Dames, N., …Plato Project Steering Group Collaborators. (2022). Exploring variation in surgical practice: does surgeon personality influence anastomotic decision-making?. British Journal of Surgery, 109(11), 1156-1163. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjs/znac200

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 14, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Jul 19, 2022
• Publication Date: Oct 14, 2022
• Deposit Date: Oct 8, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 11, 2022
• Journal: The British journal of surgery
• Print ISSN: 0007-1323
• Electronic ISSN: 1365-2168
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 109
• Issue: 11
• Pages: 1156-1163
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjs/znac200
• Keywords: Surgery
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/12036073
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/bjs/advance-article/doi/10.1093/bjs/znac200/6646048