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Patients not likely to switch surgeons despite lure of shorter wait times
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Most patients in a recent study who were waiting to undergo an elective hip or knee replacement surgery said they would not switch orthopedic surgeons even if they were offered the opportunity to have the procedure done sooner with another surgeon.
The cross-sectional study of 1,200 patients sheds light on the issue of waiting time for elective surgeries and what priority patients place on finding an experienced orthopedist, investigator Tom Noseworthy, MD, MPH, said in a press release.
The group of Canadian researchers mailed a questionnaire to two random samples of patients who either were awaiting hip or knee arthroplasty or had undergone one of the procedures within the preceding 3-12 months.
"We used logistic regression to assess the determinants of patients' likelihood to consider changing surgeons," the researchers wrote in their abstract.
The findings of the study appeared in the Aug. 12 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
Of 1,200 responses from a sample of 2,000 patients, 46% were from patients awaiting surgery and 54% were from those who had already undergone joint replacement surgery. The mean age of respondents was 69.9 years, and 57% were women.
The mean waiting time for surgery was 8 months.
Overall, 63% of patients said they were unlikely to consider changing surgeons, according to the abstract.
Patients were more likely to change surgeons if the patients were men, if they had a high school education or higher, or if they already had undergone surgery.
In the press release, Noseworthy said patients' most common reasons for remaining with their orthopedic surgeon rather than switching in order to receive more immediate surgery include having trust in the surgeon, the orthopedist's reputation and location, the patients' personal experience, and recommendations from family, friends or family doctors.
"Once patients have developed trust in their surgeons, they are willing to wait unless their pain becomes unbearable," he said in the press release.
For more information:
- Conner-Spady B, Sanmartin C, Johnston G, et al. Willingness of patients to change surgeons for a shorter waiting time for joint arthroplasty. Can Med Assoc J. 2008:179(4):327-32.