Risk preferences and attitudes to surgery in decision making

Figures & data

Figure 1. The radiograph shown in the survey; the same for all 5 patient descriptions.

Table 1. Treatment choices of the 354 surgeons included in the final analysis. The cases are presented in order of age. In the survey, the order was different

	Osteo- synthesis	Hemi- arthroplasty	Reverse shoulder prosthesis	Non- operative treatment
64-year-old man. Married. Works as an organizational consultant.
Goes to the gym now and then. Plays tennis every week. Healthy.	76%	3%	3%	18%
69-year-old married lady. Former history teacher. Likes picking
mushrooms and travelling. Orally treated diabetes.	51%	10%	5%	34%
73-year-old man. Married. Plays golf. Hobby carpenter. Hunting.
Smokes. Drinks some alcohol. Slight hypertension.	39%	12%	4%	45%
80-years-old woman. Lives alone without home help.
Likes walking. Plays bridge. Healthy.	17%	12%	9%	62%
83-year-old woman. Lives alone without home help. Slight disability
of the other arm after stroke.	13%	13%	9%	65%

Figure 2. Distribution of hazardous attitudes. Possible values range from 5 (lowest Likert score for all questions) to 25 (highest score for all questions). Number of respondents who recommended nonoperative treatment for all cases is shown in red.