ArticleBMJ open2019
Lasting impact: a qualitative study of perspectives on surgery by adult recipients of free mission-based surgical care in Benin.
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Systematic review of low-income and middle-income country perceptions of visiting surgical teams from high-income countries.BMJ global health · 2022Pooled it
- Patient-Reported Perceptions and Barriers in Accessing Surgical Care in a Tertiary Healthcare Setting: A Cross-Sectional Study From Pakistan.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Challenges and enablers in accessing paediatric inguinal hernia surgical care in Sierra Leone: a qualitative exploratory study.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Traumatic tension pneumocephalus: a case report and perspective from Indonesia.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- Acceptability of surgical care in Uganda: a qualitative study on users and providers.BMJ open · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThis study aimed to explore how adult patients who received free mission-based elective surgery experienced surgery and its outcomes, in order to provide recommendations for improved service delivery, measurement of impact and future quality initiatives for the humanitarian organisation Mercy Ships and other mission-based surgical platforms.
settingData were collected in June 2017 in Cotonou, Benin, where the participants had previously received free mission-based elective surgery aboard the
participantsSixteen patients (seven male, nine female, age range 22-71, mean age 43.25) who had previously received surgical care aboard the
methodsUsing a qualitative design, 16 individual semistructured interviews were conducted with the assistance of two interpreters. Participants were recruited using purposive sampling from the Mercy Ships patient database. Interview data were coded and organised into themes and subthemes using thematic content analysis in an interpretivist approach.
findingsAnalysis of interview data revealed three main themes: barriers to surgery, experiences with Mercy Ships and changes in perspectives of surgery after their experiences. Key findings included barriers to local surgical provision such as cost, a noteworthy amount of fear and distrust of local surgical teams, exceptional positive experiences with the care at Mercy Ships, and impactful surgery, resulting in high levels of trust in foreign surgical teams.
conclusionsWhile foreign surgical teams are meeting an immediate need for surgical care, the potential enduring legacy is one of trusting only foreigners for surgery. Patients are a critical component to a well-functioning surgical system, and mission-based surgical providers must formulate strategies to mitigate this legacy while strengthening the local surgical system.
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