Results
The survey was distributed to 136 patients in the otolaryngology clinic waiting room. 102 patients (response rate 75%) completed the survey. Of these survey respondents, 50% were male and 10% Spanish-speaking. 51% presented for otologic complaints; other represented subspecialties included head & neck surgery, facial plastic surgery, and rhinology. See Table 1 for participant demographic information. Ear surgery outcomes of high value to patients included hearing (mean 9.3 on a 10-point scale from 0 [not important] to 10 [very important], standard deviation 1.9), staff friendliness (8.9, 1.8), postoperative numbness (8.3, 2.4), and postoperative pain (8.1, 2.5). Outcomes of moderate value included time spent under anesthesia (7.0, 3.2), visibility of the scar (6.3, 3.5), size of the incision (5.5; 3.4), an incision hidden in the ear canal (5.4, 3.9), and cost of the surgery to the hospital (5.1, 3.9). There were no outcomes of low value except postoperative bandage color (2.0, 2.9), the negative control. See Figure 1 for a chart of perceived values of ear surgery outcomes.
On multivariable regression analysis, increasing age was associated with decreased value placed on size of incision (β=-0.06, p<0.001) and visibility of scar (β=-0.07, p<0.001), accounting for covariates. In other words for every 10-year increase in age, the value of incision size decreased by 0.6 points and the value of scar visibility decreased by 0.7, points adjusting for covariates. There were no significant associations between outcomes and other variables, such as gender or Spanish-speaking status.