title: Preoperative expectations and values of patients undergoing Mohs micrographic surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dermatologists have championed Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) for its unsurpassed treatment success for skin cancers, safety profile, cost-effectiveness, and tissue-sparing quality. It is unclear whether patients undergoing MMS also value these characteristics.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate patients' preoperative expectations of MMS and identify the factors that may influence such expectations
  
  
  METHODS
  The study prospectively recruited participants who were newly diagnosed with skin cancer and referred for MMS. A questionnaire listing the characteristics of MMS was given to the participants asking them to score the importance of each characteristic on a 10-point scale. The participants were also asked to provide information regarding their gender, age, subjective health status, education level, family annual income, and their referral source
  
  
  RESULTS
  On average, participants placed the highest value, in descending order, on a treatment that yielded the highest cure rate, reconstruction initiation only after complete tumor removal, and the surgeon being a skin cancer specialist. Overall, participants placed high values on characteristics of MMS that dermatologists have long esteemed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data corroborate that MMS is a valuable procedure that meets the expectations not just of physicians, but also of patients. The authors have indicated no significant interest with commercial supporters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina 29425, USA. gary.s.chuang@gmail.com
authors.forename: Gary S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Chuang
authors.forename: Brian C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Leach
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wheless
authors.forename: Pearon G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cook
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015580:Mohs Surgery; D057234:Preoperative Period; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires