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Table 5 Patients themes

From: Assessment of attitudes towards future implementation of the “Surgical Risk Preoperative Assessment System” (SURPAS) tool: a pilot survey among patients, surgeons, and hospital administrators

Issues that Emerged from Past Experience of Preoperative Risk Assessment Discussions

The Overall Opinion of the SURPAS tool

Potential Concerns with Having Risk Assessment Information

Some patients needed more information than others

All patients liked SURPAS. Patients wanted to have a visual display of the risk to take home; They preferred the pictogram of 100 patients

Patients had mixed reactions to the question, “Would you still have the operation if your risk is high?”

A feeling of being overwhelmed with the information - Not being able to remember details after the clinic visit

They believed it would be informative for relaying individual surgical risks

An additional concern existed over the scenario where the estimated risks were low but the patient still suffered a complication

Information should be given to caregivers or family members

SURPAS facilitates understanding of their individual risk of complications, compared to an average risk