Soft Skills and Surgical Performance (SSPSP)

June 16, 2010 updated by: Philipps University Marburg Medical Center

Do Soft Skills Predict Surgical Performance? Do Soft Skills Predict Surgical Performance? A Prospective Randomized Controlled Single Center Educational Trial Evaluating Predictors of Skill Acquisition in Virtual Reality Laparoscopy

Background and hypothesis:

Virtual reality (VR) training in minimal invasive surgery (MIS) is known to be feasible and beneficial in surgical residency. Research on stress- coping in surgical trainees indicate an additional impact of soft skills on VR- performance. Thus to hypothesize soft skills predicting surgical performance in a VR- setting.

Method:

A prospective randomized controlled single center educational trial was carried out to evaluate the impact of structured VR- training and defined soft skills such as self- efficacy, stress- coping and motivation on VR- performance.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Method:

Eligibility criteria were surgical residency not exceeding the first year of surgical training, a limited experience in MIS and informed consent to the study procedures including an anonymized publication of the study data. Limited experience in MIS was defined as camera navigation in laparoscopic cholecystectomies only.

Fifty residents were enrolled and prospectively randomized to either three months of structured VR- training or no training. Every participant underwent a basic VR- skills assessment and a serial assessment of defined soft skills including self- efficacy, stress- coping and motivation prior to randomization.

Basic VR- skills were measured within seven modules of the VR- simulator LapSim® (Surgical Science, Goteborg, Sweden) including "camera and instrument navigation", "coordination", "grasping", "lifting and grasping", "clip applying" and "diathermy cutting". Each module had to be performed in two levels of difficulty- medium and hard. Means of defined parameters of VR- performance were generated. Defined parameters of VR- performance comprised "time to complete task", "economy of instrument motion" and "tissue damage".

Serial assessment of defined soft skills comprised standardized psychological paper- pencil questionnaires regarding self efficacy (GSE), stress coping (SVF 78) and motivation (QCM).

Participants randomized to the intervention group had to pass sessions of 45 minutes each twice a week for three months. Participants randomized to the control group underwent no training at all.

Three months after randomization, VR- performance was assessed likewise. Outcome measurement of VR- performance defined results derived from the most complex module "diathermy- cutting" as endpoint.

The study was approved by the local ethics committee. Participation of the study was voluntary. Data were blinded to the investigators.

The data were descriptively analysed using SPSS® software version 16.0 (SSPS®, Chicago, Illinois, USA). Spearman regression analysis was performed to correlate means of virtual laparoscopic performance and the results derived from serial psychological testing. The differences between the randomized groups were assessed by means of the non- parametric Mann-Whitney- Test regarding all parameters, laparoscopic performance as well psychological scores. Relation of means was carried out using the two- independent t- Test. The level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.050 (two-tailed).

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

50

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • surgical residency not exceeding the first year of surgical training
  • limited experience in MIS (camera navigation in laparoscopic cholecystectomies only)
  • informed consent to study procedures and publication of anonymized data

Exclusion Criteria:

  • surgical residency exceeding the first year of surgical training
  • experience in MIS exceeding camera navigation in laparoscopic cholecystectomies
  • lack of informed consent

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
VR- performance after training
Time Frame: Three months
Outcome measurement comprised defined parameters of VR- performance including "time to complete task", economy of instrument motion" and "tissue damage" within the most complex module "diathermy cutting" as primary endpoint.
Three months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Philipps University Marburg Medical Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Iyad Hassan, MD, Department of Visceral-, Thoracic- and Vascular Surgery, Philipps- University Marburg, Germany

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

June 1, 2008

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2009

Study Completion (Actual)

May 1, 2009

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 2, 2010

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 3, 2010

First Posted (Estimate)

June 4, 2010

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 17, 2010

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 16, 2010

Last Verified

June 1, 2010

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Katja Maschuw, MD

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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