Understanding patient expectations is a critical aspect of healthcare, particularly in surgical procedures. This is especially true in the field of podiatry, where foot and ankle surgeries are common. However, there has been a lack of focus on patient expectations, despite its potential impact on patient satisfaction. To address this gap, a study was conducted with the aim of developing a patient-derived survey to gauge expectations from foot and ankle surgery.
The study followed a three-phase process to develop and test the survey. The first phase involved interviewing preoperative patients about their expectations from the surgery. These interviews were not guided by any pre-set questions, allowing patients to freely express their thoughts and concerns. The researchers then grouped the major concepts from these interviews into categories, which formed the basis of the draft survey.
The second phase involved administering the draft survey to preoperative patients on two separate occasions. This was done to establish the test-retest reliability of the survey, which is a measure of the consistency of the survey results over time. If the survey is reliable, it should produce similar results when administered to the same group of patients at different times.
In the third and final phase, the researchers selected the final survey items based on their response concordance and clinical relevance. Response concordance refers to the agreement between the responses given by different patients, while clinical relevance refers to the applicability of the survey items to the clinical setting.
The initial phase of the study involved 94 preoperative patients who volunteered their expectations, resulting in a total of 655 expectations. These were grouped into 29 categories through qualitative analysis. In the second phase, another 60 patients completed the draft survey twice before their surgery. The final survey consisted of 23 items, with an average weighted kappa value of 0.54. The kappa value is a statistical measure of the agreement between the responses, with a value of 1 indicating perfect agreement.
The survey generates an overall score based on the amount of improvement expected for each item. The score ranges from zero to 100, with higher scores indicating more expectations. For the patients in the second phase of the study, the mean scores for both administrations were 65 and 66, approximating normal distributions. The intraclass correlation coefficient between the scores was 0.78, indicating a high level of consistency between the scores.
The study concluded with the development of a patient-derived survey that is specific to foot and ankle surgery. The survey is valid, reliable, and applicable to a diverse range of diagnoses. It includes both physical and psychological expectations, providing a comprehensive view of patient expectations. The survey generates an overall score that is easy to calculate and interpret, making it a practical tool for recording patient expectations.
The researchers believe that this survey can be used preoperatively by surgeons to help guide patients’ expectations and facilitate shared decision making. This could potentially lead to improved patient satisfaction, as patients would have a clearer understanding of what to expect from their surgery. The survey represents a significant step forward in understanding and managing patient expectations in foot and ankle surgery.
To read the full journal article, head to http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FootAnkleInternational/~3/J63h4G35sFI/1277