BACKGROUND: Dermatologists have championed Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) for its unsurpassed treatment success for skin cancers, safety profile, cost-effectiveness, and tissue-sparing quality. It is unclear whether patients undergoing MMS also value these characteristics. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate patients' preoperative expectations of MMS and identify the factors that may influence such expectations METHODS: The study prospectively recruited participants who were newly diagnosed with skin cancer and referred for MMS. A questionnaire listing the characteristics of MMS was given to the participants asking them to score the importance of each characteristic on a 10-point scale. The participants were also asked to provide information regarding their gender, age, subjective health status, education level, family annual income, and their referral source RESULTS: On average, participants placed the highest value, in descending order, on a treatment that yielded the highest cure rate, reconstruction initiation only after complete tumor removal, and the surgeon being a skin cancer specialist. Overall, participants placed high values on characteristics of MMS that dermatologists have long esteemed. CONCLUSION: Our data corroborate that MMS is a valuable procedure that meets the expectations not just of physicians, but also of patients. The authors have indicated no significant interest with commercial supporters.
BACKGROUND: Dermatologists have championed Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) for its unsurpassed treatment success for skin cancers, safety profile, cost-effectiveness, and tissue-sparing quality. It is unclear whether patients undergoing MMS also value these characteristics. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate patients' preoperative expectations of MMS and identify the factors that may influence such expectations METHODS: The study prospectively recruited participants who were newly diagnosed with skin cancer and referred for MMS. A questionnaire listing the characteristics of MMS was given to the participants asking them to score the importance of each characteristic on a 10-point scale. The participants were also asked to provide information regarding their gender, age, subjective health status, education level, family annual income, and their referral source RESULTS: On average, participants placed the highest value, in descending order, on a treatment that yielded the highest cure rate, reconstruction initiation only after complete tumor removal, and the surgeon being a skin cancer specialist. Overall, participants placed high values on characteristics of MMS that dermatologists have long esteemed. CONCLUSION: Our data corroborate that MMS is a valuable procedure that meets the expectations not just of physicians, but also of patients. The authors have indicated no significant interest with commercial supporters.
Authors: Jeremy R Etzkorn; Joseph F Sobanko; Thuzar M Shin; Rosalie Elenitsas; Emily Y Chu; Joel M Gelfand; David J Margolis; Jason G Newman; Hayley Goldbach; Christopher J Miller Journal: Dermatol Surg Date: 2016-04 Impact factor: 3.398