Visual Preoperative Risk Depiction Tools for Shared Decision-making: A Pilot Study from the Surgeon's Perspective

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Surgical Education
• Patient Communication

Background:

• Shared decision-making (SDM) and risk communication are crucial for patient satisfaction and treatment adherence.
• Existing risk calculators have limitations, particularly for low-risk surgical procedures.
• Developing novel methods to visualize surgical risks is needed to improve preoperative discussions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop graphical risk visualization tools for enhancing preoperative surgical SDM discussions.
• To assess the utility and meaningfulness of these tools among healthcare practitioners.

Main Methods:

• Risk data for reduction mammoplasty and skin grafting were compiled from multiple sources.
• Three distinct risk depiction tools (spiral, tile, scatter plot) were created.
• Healthcare practitioners provided feedback via anonymous surveys on the developed tools.

Main Results:

• 92% of respondents found the graphics useful for SDM discussions.
• 73% agreed the graphics meaningfully depicted risk.
• 58% indicated they would use the graphics in practice, with a preference for the spiral design.

Conclusions:

• Graphical risk visualization tools effectively communicate surgical risks, enhancing SDM.
• The developed tools can be adapted for various surgical procedures to improve patient-provider communication.