ArticleBMJ open2020
'Hobson's choice': a qualitative study of consent in acute surgery.
Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06439537 (Improving Consent In Trauma), which is not on this map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Improving Consent In Trauma: Recall (ICIT: Recall) A Multicentre Study of Consent For Hip Fractures
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Challenges in shared decision-making about major lower limb amputation: the PERCEIVE qualitative study.BMJ open · 2026Observational
- Examining the variation in consent in general surgery.Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe study aimed to understand through qualitative research what patients considered material in their decision to consent to an acute surgical intervention. PARTICIPANTS, SETTING AND
interventionThe patients selected aged between 18 and 90, having been admitted to a major trauma centre to undergo an acute surgical intervention within 14 days of injury, where English was their first language. Data saturation point was reached after 21 patients had been recruited. Data collection and analysis were conducted simultaneously, through interviews undertaken immediately prior to surgery. The data were coded using NVIVO V.12 software.
resultsThe key theme that originated from the data analysis was patients were unable to identify any individual risk that would modify their decision-making process around giving consent. The patient's previous experience and the experience of others around them were a further theme. Patients sensed that there were no non-operative options for their injuries.
conclusionThis is the first study investigating what patient considered a material risk in the consent process. Patients in this study did attribute significance to past experiences of friends and family as material, prompting us to suggest that the surgeon asks about these experiences as part of the consent process. Concern about functional recovery was important to patients but insufficient to stop them from consenting to surgery, thus could not be classified as material risk.
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Registered trials
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