Discrepancies in decision making preferences between parents and surgeons in pediatric surgery

Little data exists regarding decision-making preferences for parents and surgeons in pediatric surgery. Here we investigate whether parents and surgeons have similar decision-making preferences as well as which factors influence those preferences. Specifically, we compare parents' and surgeons' assessments of the urgency and complexity of pediatric surgical scenarios and the impact of their assessments on decision-making preferences. A survey was emailed to parents of patients evaluated in a university-based pediatric surgery clinic and surgeons belonging to the American Pediatric Surgical Association. The survey asked respondents to rate 6 clinical vignettes for urgency, complexity, and desired level of surgeon guidance using the Controlled Preferences Scale (CPS). Regarding urgency, parents were more likely than surgeons to rate scenarios as emergent when cancer was involved (parents: 68.8% cancer vs. 29.5% non-cancer, p