Efficacy of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Ameliorating Inattentional Blindness Amongst Young Neurosurgeons: A Prospective, Controlled Pilot Study
BackgroundHuman factors are increasingly being recognised as vital components of safe surgical care. One such human cognitive factor: inattention blindness (IB), describes the inability to perceive objects despite being visible, typically when one’s attention is focused on another task. This may con...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Surgery |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2022.916228/full |
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| author | Anand S. Pandit Melissa de Gouveia Hugo Layard Horsfall Hugo Layard Horsfall Arisa Reka Hani J. Marcus Hani J. Marcus |
| author_facet | Anand S. Pandit Melissa de Gouveia Hugo Layard Horsfall Hugo Layard Horsfall Arisa Reka Hani J. Marcus Hani J. Marcus |
| author_sort | Anand S. Pandit |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundHuman factors are increasingly being recognised as vital components of safe surgical care. One such human cognitive factor: inattention blindness (IB), describes the inability to perceive objects despite being visible, typically when one’s attention is focused on another task. This may contribute toward operative ‘never-events’ such as retained foreign objects and wrong-site surgery.MethodsAn 8-week, mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) programme, adapted for surgeons, was delivered virtually. Neurosurgical trainees and recent staff-appointees who completed the MBI were compared against a control group, matched in age, sex and grade. Attention and IB were tested using two operative videos. In each, participants were first instructed to focus on a specific part of the procedure and assessed (attention), then questioned on a separate but easily visible aspect within the operative field (inattention). If a participant were ‘inattentionally blind’ they would miss significant events occurring outside of their main focus. Median absolute error (MAE) scores were calculated for both attention and inattention. A generalised linear model was fitted for each, to determine the independent effect of mindfulness intervention on MAE.ResultsThirteen neurosurgeons completed the mindfulness training (age, 30 years [range 27–35]; female:male, 5:8), compared to 15 neurosurgeons in the control group (age, 30 years [27–42]; female:male, 6:9). There were no significant demographic differences between groups. MBI participants demonstrated no significant differences on attention tasks as compared to controls (t = −1.50, p = 0.14). For inattention tasks, neurosurgeons who completed the MBI had significantly less errors (t = −2.47, p = 0.02), after adjusting for participant level and video differences versus controls. We found that both groups significantly improved their inattention error rate between videos (t = −11.37, p < 0.0001). In spite of this, MBI participants still significantly outperformed controls in inattention MAE in the second video following post-hoc analysis (MWU = 137.5, p = 0.05).DiscussionNeurosurgeons who underwent an eight-week MBI had significantly reduced inattention blindness errors as compared to controls, suggesting mindfulness as a potential tool to increase vigilance and prevent operative mistakes. Our findings cautiously support further mindfulness evaluation and the implementation of these techniques within the neurosurgical training curriculum. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T20:45:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4eb5d260c53f4b9baec72ab0ad9c2235 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-875X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T20:45:50Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Surgery |
| spelling | doaj.art-4eb5d260c53f4b9baec72ab0ad9c22352022-12-22T00:12:34ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Surgery2296-875X2022-05-01910.3389/fsurg.2022.916228916228Efficacy of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Ameliorating Inattentional Blindness Amongst Young Neurosurgeons: A Prospective, Controlled Pilot StudyAnand S. Pandit0Melissa de Gouveia1Hugo Layard Horsfall2Hugo Layard Horsfall3Arisa Reka4Hani J. Marcus5Hani J. Marcus6Victor Horsley Department of Neurosurgery, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, United KingdomVictor Horsley Department of Neurosurgery, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, United KingdomVictor Horsley Department of Neurosurgery, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, United KingdomWellcome/EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences, University College London, London, United KingdomUCL Medical School, London, United KingdomVictor Horsley Department of Neurosurgery, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, United KingdomWellcome/EPSRC Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences, University College London, London, United KingdomBackgroundHuman factors are increasingly being recognised as vital components of safe surgical care. One such human cognitive factor: inattention blindness (IB), describes the inability to perceive objects despite being visible, typically when one’s attention is focused on another task. This may contribute toward operative ‘never-events’ such as retained foreign objects and wrong-site surgery.MethodsAn 8-week, mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) programme, adapted for surgeons, was delivered virtually. Neurosurgical trainees and recent staff-appointees who completed the MBI were compared against a control group, matched in age, sex and grade. Attention and IB were tested using two operative videos. In each, participants were first instructed to focus on a specific part of the procedure and assessed (attention), then questioned on a separate but easily visible aspect within the operative field (inattention). If a participant were ‘inattentionally blind’ they would miss significant events occurring outside of their main focus. Median absolute error (MAE) scores were calculated for both attention and inattention. A generalised linear model was fitted for each, to determine the independent effect of mindfulness intervention on MAE.ResultsThirteen neurosurgeons completed the mindfulness training (age, 30 years [range 27–35]; female:male, 5:8), compared to 15 neurosurgeons in the control group (age, 30 years [27–42]; female:male, 6:9). There were no significant demographic differences between groups. MBI participants demonstrated no significant differences on attention tasks as compared to controls (t = −1.50, p = 0.14). For inattention tasks, neurosurgeons who completed the MBI had significantly less errors (t = −2.47, p = 0.02), after adjusting for participant level and video differences versus controls. We found that both groups significantly improved their inattention error rate between videos (t = −11.37, p < 0.0001). In spite of this, MBI participants still significantly outperformed controls in inattention MAE in the second video following post-hoc analysis (MWU = 137.5, p = 0.05).DiscussionNeurosurgeons who underwent an eight-week MBI had significantly reduced inattention blindness errors as compared to controls, suggesting mindfulness as a potential tool to increase vigilance and prevent operative mistakes. Our findings cautiously support further mindfulness evaluation and the implementation of these techniques within the neurosurgical training curriculum.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2022.916228/fullinattention blindnesscognitive loadsafetysurgical trainingeducationcognitive bias |
| spellingShingle | Anand S. Pandit Melissa de Gouveia Hugo Layard Horsfall Hugo Layard Horsfall Arisa Reka Hani J. Marcus Hani J. Marcus Efficacy of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Ameliorating Inattentional Blindness Amongst Young Neurosurgeons: A Prospective, Controlled Pilot Study Frontiers in Surgery inattention blindness cognitive load safety surgical training education cognitive bias |
| title | Efficacy of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Ameliorating Inattentional Blindness Amongst Young Neurosurgeons: A Prospective, Controlled Pilot Study |
| title_full | Efficacy of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Ameliorating Inattentional Blindness Amongst Young Neurosurgeons: A Prospective, Controlled Pilot Study |
| title_fullStr | Efficacy of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Ameliorating Inattentional Blindness Amongst Young Neurosurgeons: A Prospective, Controlled Pilot Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Efficacy of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Ameliorating Inattentional Blindness Amongst Young Neurosurgeons: A Prospective, Controlled Pilot Study |
| title_short | Efficacy of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Ameliorating Inattentional Blindness Amongst Young Neurosurgeons: A Prospective, Controlled Pilot Study |
| title_sort | efficacy of a mindfulness based intervention in ameliorating inattentional blindness amongst young neurosurgeons a prospective controlled pilot study |
| topic | inattention blindness cognitive load safety surgical training education cognitive bias |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2022.916228/full |
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