Exploring shared surgical decision-making from the patient's perspective: Is the personality of the surgeon important?

AIM To determine the importance of a colorectal surgeon's personality to patients and its influence on their decision-making. METHODS We present a 2-part mixed methods study using the GRIPP-2 long form. Part 1 was an online survey (25 questions) and Part 2 a face-to-face patient and public involvement (PPI) exercise. Part 1 included: patient demographics, details of surgery, overall patient satisfaction (Net Promoter Score, NPS) and patient views on surgeon personality (Gosling Ten Item Personality Index). Thematic analysis of free text responses generated 4 themes that were taken forward to Part 2. These themes were used to structure focus group discussions on surgeon-patient interactions. RESULTS Part 1 yielded 296 responses: 72% female; 75.3% UK based and 55.1% aged 40-59 years. Inflammatory bowel disease (45.3%) and cancer (40.2%) were the main indications. 84.1% of respondents reported satisfaction with their surgical experience (NPS). Four key themes were generated from Part 1 and validated in Part 2: 1) surgeon personality stereotypes (media differed from patients' perspective); 2) favourable and unfavourable surgical personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, emotional stability preferred over risk-taking and narcissism); 3) patient-surgeon interaction (mutual respect and rapport valued); 4) impact of surgeon personality on decision-making (majority unaware of second opinion option; management of post-operative complications). CONCLUSION Patients believe surgeon personality influences shared decision making. Low levels of emotional stability and conscientiousness are perceived by patients to increase the likelihood of post-operative adverse events. Further work is required to explore the potential influence of surgeon personality on shared decision-making and post-operative outcomes.