Measuring the teamwork performance of operating room teams: a systematic review of assessment tools and their measurement properties

ABSTRACT

Teamwork is fundamental to surgical patient safety but is inconsistently measured. While many tools have been developed for elective intraoperative situations, it is unclear which is the most robust. This systematic review aimed to identify tools to measure the teamwork of operating room teams. Studies were included if they examined the measurement properties of these tools. PsycINFO, Embase (via OVID), CINAHL, ERIC, Medline and Medline in Process (via OVID) were searched through to May 3, 2019, as were reference lists of included studies and previously published relevant reviews. Retrieved articles were screened and data extracted in duplicate by two independent reviewers. Quality was assessed using the COSMIN checklist. Of the 2121 references identified, 14 studies of six assessment tools were included. Tools were validated across various specialties, mostly in clinical rather than simulated settings. The Observational Teamwork Assessment for Surgery (OTAS) and Operating Theater Team Non-Technical Skills Assessment Tool (NOTECHS) were the most frequently investigated tools. Though acceptable for assessing teamwork, both NOTECHS and OTAS rely on the questionable assumption that the teamwork of a team is equivalent to the sum of individual performances. Future studies may investigate other assessment tools that assess the whole team as the unit of analysis along with the potential of these tools to provide healthcare providers with meaningful feedback in clinical practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Psychometrics
• patient safety
• operating rooms
• teamwork

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Alexandra Davis, BA, MLIS for her help in the development and review of the search strategies.

Declaration of interests

The authors report no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here

Additional information

Funding

Dr. Boet was supported by The Ottawa Hospital Anesthesia Alternate Funds Association. The DistillerSR licenses were funded by the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, The Ottawa Hospital.

Notes on contributors

Nicole Etherington

Nicole Etherington, PhD is a Senior Research Associate at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.

Sarah Larrigan

Sarah Larrigan is an undergraduate student at the University of Ottawa.

Henry Liu

Henry Liu is a medical student at the University of Ottawa.

Michael Wu

Michael Wu is a medical student at the University of Ottawa.

Katrina J. Sullivan

Katrina J. Sullivan, MSc is a Research Associate at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.

James Jung

James Jung, MD, PhD is the Chief Resident of General Surgery at the University of Toronto.

Sylvain Boet

Sylvain Boet, MD, PhD is a Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and staff anesthesiologist at The Ottawa Hospital.