P091 POSTOPERATIVE OUTCOMES THAT MATTER TO PATIENTS UNDERGOING INGUINAL HERNIA REPAIR: A QUALITATIVE STUDY

Aim Explore which postoperative outcomes are important to patients operated for inguinal hernia to gain a better insight into the patient experience going through surgery. Material and Methods Qualitative study using semi-structured individual interviews. Based on phenomenology and hermeneutics. Participants were all male, between 44-66 years of age, and had undergone inguinal hernia repair. Patients were interviewed either shortly after surgery (≤ 10 days) or 3-6 months postoperatively. Data were analyzed with directed content analysis based on six domains defined a priori based on the literature. Reported according to the COnsolidated criteria for REporting Qualitative research (COREQ) and Standards for Quality Improvement Reporting Excellence (SQUIRE 2.0). Results Ten patients were included and interviewed. Data aligned well with the six predefined domains. Major domains: Function, Sensation, Expectations. Minor domains: Appearance, Social Aspects, Satisfaction with surgeon/staff. Preoperative functional limitations were the main motivation for seeking surgery, and postoperative functional improvement seemed to be the most important factor determining overall patient satisfaction. Conclusions Patients consider a wide range of factors when assessing the outcome of their inguinal hernia repair. Our results suggest that the current practice of outcome assessment of inguinal hernia repair may be too narrow and may not adequately reflect the patients’ experience. This study is a part of an ongoing development of a Core Outcome Set for inguinal hernia research.