A systematic review of the abdominal surgeon’s personality: exploring common traits in western populations

Bisset, C. N., McKee, T., Cawley, M., Tilling, E. and Moug, S. J. (2021) A systematic review of the abdominal surgeon’s personality: exploring common traits in western populations. Behavioral Sciences, 11(1), 2. (doi: 10.3390/bs11010002) (PMID:33375271) (PMCID:PMC7823302)

Abstract

The personality traits commonly seen in abdominal surgeons remains undefined, and its potential influence on decision-making and patient outcomes underexplored. This systematic review identified studies on abdominal surgeons who had undergone validated personality testing, with assessment of decision-making and post-operative patient outcomes. The study protocol was registered on PROSPERO (University of York, UK (CRD42019151375)). MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo and Cochrane Library databases were searched using the keywords: surgeon; surgeon personality; outcomes. All study designs were accepted including adult visceral surgeons published in English. Five articles from 3056 abstracts met our inclusion criteria and one article was identified from hand searches with two reviewers screening studies. Bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Six studies included 386 surgeons. Studies assessing personality using the Five Factor Model (four studies, 329 surgeons) demonstrated higher levels of conscientiousness (self-discipline, thoughtfulness), extraversion (sociability, emotional expression) and openness (creative, conventional) in surgeons versus population norms. Surgeon characterisation of agreeableness and emotional stability was less clear, with studies reporting mixed results. Post-operative outcomes were reported by only one study. Further exploration of the influence of surgeon personality and its influence on decision-making is necessary to deliver patient-centred care and targeted non-technical skills training for surgeons.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This research was funded by Bowel Research UK, grant name “The Plato Project: the influence of surgeon personality on the decision to anastomose”. The APC was funded by Bowel Research UK.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Moug, Ms Susan

Creator Roles

Moug, S. J.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Writing – review and editing, Supervision

• Authors: Bisset, C. N., McKee, T., Cawley, M., Tilling, E., and Moug, S. J.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing
• Journal Name: Behavioral Sciences
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2076-328X
• ISSN (Online): 2076-328X
• Published Online: 26 December 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Behavioral Sciences 11(1): 2
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License