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Attitudes and beliefs about placebo surgery among orthopedic shoulder surgeons in the United Kingdom.

ABSTRACT: To survey surgeons on their beliefs and attitudes towards the use of placebo in surgery.British orthopedic shoulder surgeons, attending a national conference in the United Kingdom, were asked to complete a self-report online questionnaire about their beliefs and attitudes towards the use of placebo related to surgical intervention. The survey included questions about ethical issues, the mechanism of placebo effects, and any concerns regarding its use.100 surgeons who participated in the survey believed that placebo surgery is ethically acceptable (96%), especially as a part of a clinical trial (46%). Respondents thought that a placebo effect in surgery is real i.e. has a scientific basis (92%), that placebo can be therapeutically beneficial (77%), and that it involves psychological mechanisms (96%). Over half of the respondents (58%) have used a surgical procedure with a significant placebo component at least once in their professional career. Their main concern about placebo use in surgery was that it might involve an element of deception.Surgeons generally agreed that a placebo component to surgical intervention might exist. They also supported placebo use in clinical trials and considered it ethical, providing it does not involve deception of patients. More studies are needed, particularly among other surgical specialties and with larger numbers of participants, to better understand the use of placebo in surgery.

SUBMITTER: Wartolowska K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3954758 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Attitudes and beliefs about placebo surgery among orthopedic shoulder surgeons in the United Kingdom.

Wartolowska Karolina K Beard David J DJ Carr Andrew J AJ

PloS one 20140314 3

<h4>Objectives</h4>To survey surgeons on their beliefs and attitudes towards the use of placebo in surgery.<h4>Methods</h4>British orthopedic shoulder surgeons, attending a national conference in the United Kingdom, were asked to complete a self-report online questionnaire about their beliefs and attitudes towards the use of placebo related to surgical intervention. The survey included questions about ethical issues, the mechanism of placebo effects, and any concerns regarding its use.<h4>Result ...[more]

PMID: 24632880

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Project description:BackgroundLittle is known about the participation of surgeons in preventative health activities in the non-admitted hospital care setting. The aim of this study was to identify which preventive health activities surgeons practice and to explore their attitudes towards preventive health.MethodsA mixed methods study was conducted using a sequential explanatory design. Quantitative results were obtained from a self-reported clinician survey (n?=?16) and a Generalized Estimating Equation was used to assess the relationship between dependent (preventive health practice) and independent (confidence and knowledge in preventive health practice, years of practice, and attitudinal factors) variables. Using a building approach to integration, results from the quantitative analyses informed design of the interview guide. Surgeons' beliefs and attitudes were explored using in-depth, semi structured interviews with a purposeful sample of surgeons (n?=?14). Responses were collected, independently coded and analysed using a qualitative descriptive approach.ResultsIn accordance with a contiguous narrative approach to integration, the quantitative and qualitative findings are reported separately. The clinician survey found that the surgeons carried out preventive health activities at low levels. Preventive health advice was predominantly verbal in nature, and few surgeons provided written material or referred patients to additional services. The GEE analyses indicated that the following factors best predicted the tendency to undertake preventive health activities: years of clinical practice (p?=?0.041), and the perceived work priority placed on preventive health (p?=?0.008). Interviews generated four themes that influenced the tendency of surgeons to undertake preventive health activities: perceptions of their role in preventive health, perceived motivation of patients, hospital structure, and facilitating factors. In regards to enabling factors that are likely to increase preventive health practice, surgeons unanimously advocated for referral pathways into specialist behaviour change programs that they could facilitate within their relatively brief consulting time.ConclusionsThe findings suggests that the majority of public hospital surgeons engage in routine preventive health advice at a low level. The high volume of non-admitted surgical consultations undertaken annually, coupled with medium to high self-reported knowledge and confidence in addressing behavioural risk factors, support an increased involvement of surgeons in preventive health practice.

Dataset Information

Attitudes and beliefs about placebo surgery among orthopedic shoulder surgeons in the United Kingdom.

Publications

Attitudes and beliefs about placebo surgery among orthopedic shoulder surgeons in the United Kingdom.

Similar Datasets

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