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Gynaecologists' and general surgeons' preference for the features of integrated theatres: a discrete choice experiment

Holland, TK; Morris, S; Cutner, A; (2018) Gynaecologists' and general surgeons' preference for the features of integrated theatres: a discrete choice experiment. BMC Women's Health , 18 , Article 112. 10.1186/s12905-018-0576-2. Green open access

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Abstract

Background Laparoscopic surgery is progressing rapidly is becoming the normal route for many abdominal operations, even for major complex surgery. The integrated laparoscopic theatre is a state-of-the-art system in which the laparoscopic equipment and multiple flat-screen monitors are permanently installed to be operational on demand inside the theatre. These expensive systems are being widely adopted, however very little research has been published regarding which features of these systems are desired by the surgeons who use them. The study objective was to assess the strength of preference for key attributes of integrated laparoscopic theatres and to compare these preferences between Gynaecologists and General surgeons. Methods This was an electronically distributed discrete choice experiment survey of British practicing Laparoscopic Gynaecologists and General Surgeons (Through The British Society of Gynaecology Endoscopy and The Association of Laparoscopic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland). An electronic survey was designed and pre-tested. This was then sent to practicing British Laparoscopic Gynaecologists and General-Surgeons. There were structured questions regarding the seven key attributes of integrated laparoscopic theatres in the standard form for a discrete choice experiment. Results Questionnaires from 167 respondents were analysed. One hundred three were gynaecologists and 64 were general-surgeons. Adjustable screens for height and position was the most favoured attribute and it is 4.7 times more desirable than the next most desirable attribute, which was a wire free floor. The least desirable features were piped CO2, ceiling-mounted-screens and external-transmission-of-images. Conclusion Both groups favour adjustable screens for position and height above all the other features. These findings are in contrast with previous research, which showed that when asked to rank the attributes in order, gynaecologists chose ceiling mounted screens first and adjustable screens fourth. When asked to “trade off” attributes in the discrete choice experiment the adjustability of the screens became much more important than how the screens were mounted. With new wireless technology the benefits of a fully integrated theatre could be delivered with floor mounted systems at a considerably reduced cost. This information is important to manufacturers and purchasers of these systems in order to design cost effective ergonomic theatres that are fit for purpose.

Type: Article
Title: Gynaecologists' and general surgeons' preference for the features of integrated theatres: a discrete choice experiment
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1186/s12905-018-0576-2
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-018-0576-2
Language: English
Additional information: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Keywords: Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Public, Environmental & Occupational Health, Obstetrics & Gynecology, LAPAROSCOPIC SURGERY, HEALTH, TASK, PERFORMANCE, ERGONOMICS, SUITES, PAIN
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Applied Health Research
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10052822
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