Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32875846›Full record

ArticleGlobal spine journal2021

Evaluating Single-Surgeon Bias Toward Recommending Corrective Procedures for Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy Based on Demographic Factors and Comorbidities in a 484-Patient Cohort.

Albert T Anastasio, Shuo Niu, Elliott J Kim, John M Rhee

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Global spine journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Albert T Anastasio213850Duke University Hospital, Durham, NC, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5817-3826
Shuo Niu23034Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Elliott J Kim23034Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, GA, USA.
John M Rhee23034Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

STUDY

designRetrospective case series.

objectivesAn increasing focus has been placed on removing implicit (unconscious) bias from the surgical selection process. In spine surgery, there is the potential for implicit bias to affect the decision to either operate on a patient or not, given lack of definitive surgical indications for many elective procedures. The objective of this study was to analyze the surgical decision making of a single spine surgeon in an effort to understand surgical decision-making trends based on certain demographic factors.

methodsThis was a retrospective study of 484 patients who had undergone a corrective procedure for cervical myelopathy by an orthopedic spine surgeon at our institution. The preoperative modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association score served as the metric of severity of disease for cervical myelopathy. The factors that have been associated with implicit bias that were evaluated were smoking status, narcotic use status, gender, body mass index, and age.

resultsMultivariate linear regression analysis showed that even after controlling for comorbidities and confounders, the only variable which predicted likelihood to operate on a patient of a milder symptomology was age (odds ratio [OR] = -0.138; (confidence interval [CI] = -0.034 to -0.006). The other factors (smoking status, narcotic use status, gender, and body mass index) were not associated with surgical decision making.

conclusionsOur study demonstrates absence of association between commonly studied areas of implicit bias and the decision to operate on a patient with milder symptomology at initial presentation of cervical spondylotic myelopathy.

Indexed as

agebiascervical myelopathygenderimplicit biasnarcotic useobesity

Identifiers

PMID32875846
PMCPMC7882819

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