Grants Funded
Grant applicants for the 2024 cycle requested a total of nearly $3 million dollars. The PSF Study Section Subcommittees of Basic & Translational Research and Clinical Research evaluated more than 100 grant applications on the following topics:
The PSF awarded research grants totaling over $650,000 dollars to support more than 20 plastic surgery research proposals.
ASPS/PSF leadership is committed to continuing to provide high levels of investigator-initiated research support to ensure that plastic surgeons have the needed research resources to be pioneers and innovators in advancing the practice of medicine.
Research Abstracts
Search The PSF database to have easy access to full-text grant abstracts from past PSF-funded research projects 2003 to present. All abstracts are the work of the Principal Investigators and were retrieved from their PSF grant applications. Several different filters may be applied to locate abstracts specific to a particular focus area or PSF funding mechanism.
Development and Testing of a Decision Aid for Patients with Dupuytren's
Principal Investigator
Melissa Roy MD, Msc, FRCSC
Melissa Roy MD, Msc, FRCSC
Year
2018
2018
Institution
University Health Network
University Health Network
Funding Mechanism
AAHS/PSF Research Grant
AAHS/PSF Research Grant
Focus Area
Hand or Upper Extremity, Economics/Quality/Outcomes
Hand or Upper Extremity, Economics/Quality/Outcomes
Abstract
Dupuytren's contracture is a hand pathology that causes flexion deformity of the fingers and has significant impact on patients' quality of life. Multiple management options are available and treatment selection is a shared decision making process based on expectations, preferences, severity of disease, impact on daily life, and other factors. Selecting a management option can therefore be a complex process for patients. With our previous work, we have identified a high level of decisional conflict or uncertainty within patients making treatment decision about their Dupuytren's disease, therefore recognizing a need for further decision support. We also found that up to 44% of this patient population had limited health literacy and required measures of support when being communicated health information to. These findings represent a clear call to action to improve health information delivery and communication to this specific hand surgery patient population. We propose a study to develop and test a video decision aid about Dupuytren's disease's treatment options. Decision aids help patients make quality decisions that are effective, informed, and consistent with personal values. The specific aims of this study are 1) to develop the video decision aid as per international and evidence-based standards; 2) to pilot and assess its acceptability; 3) to assess its effect size. A convenience sample of 51 patients will participate in the study. Patients will have a standard clinical consultation with a hand surgeon and will then fill out a Decision Aid Acceptability Questionnaire and Decisional Conflict Scale. They will then view our video decision aid and fill out the two previous questionnaires once again. We will statistically analyze the pre/post differences in scores. We hypothesize that our video decision aid will be well-accepted and will help diminish decisional conflict. We believe that the results of the proposed study will highlight the meaningful role of decision aids in the hand surgery patient population and its impact on clinical decision making. Ultimately, we wish to increase our patients' involvement, comprehension and empowerment in their care as well as facilitate patient-surgeon communication with the use of decision aids.
Dupuytren's contracture is a hand pathology that causes flexion deformity of the fingers and has significant impact on patients' quality of life. Multiple management options are available and treatment selection is a shared decision making process based on expectations, preferences, severity of disease, impact on daily life, and other factors. Selecting a management option can therefore be a complex process for patients. With our previous work, we have identified a high level of decisional conflict or uncertainty within patients making treatment decision about their Dupuytren's disease, therefore recognizing a need for further decision support. We also found that up to 44% of this patient population had limited health literacy and required measures of support when being communicated health information to. These findings represent a clear call to action to improve health information delivery and communication to this specific hand surgery patient population. We propose a study to develop and test a video decision aid about Dupuytren's disease's treatment options. Decision aids help patients make quality decisions that are effective, informed, and consistent with personal values. The specific aims of this study are 1) to develop the video decision aid as per international and evidence-based standards; 2) to pilot and assess its acceptability; 3) to assess its effect size. A convenience sample of 51 patients will participate in the study. Patients will have a standard clinical consultation with a hand surgeon and will then fill out a Decision Aid Acceptability Questionnaire and Decisional Conflict Scale. They will then view our video decision aid and fill out the two previous questionnaires once again. We will statistically analyze the pre/post differences in scores. We hypothesize that our video decision aid will be well-accepted and will help diminish decisional conflict. We believe that the results of the proposed study will highlight the meaningful role of decision aids in the hand surgery patient population and its impact on clinical decision making. Ultimately, we wish to increase our patients' involvement, comprehension and empowerment in their care as well as facilitate patient-surgeon communication with the use of decision aids.
Biography
After graduating from medical school at McGill University, Dr. Roy joined the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Toronto where she currently is a resident physician. Dr. Roy enrolled in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) as a graduate student in clinical epidemiology and health care research in July 2016. Her research work is supported by the Surgeon Scientist (SSTP) and Clinician-Investigator (CIP) programs at University of Toronto and has been financed by the highly competitive Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship (Canadian Institute of Health Research). Dr. Roy’s research has reinforced her interest in clinical epidemiology of the hand surgery patient population within the domains of health literacy, decision making, and clinical outcomes. Moreover, the applicant has demonstrated a particular interest in medical education and leadership initiatives. During the course of her graduate studies, she has been occupying the role of resident representative for the Clinician-Investigator Program (CIP) Committee, for the IHPME Clinical Epidemiology Advisory Committee, and for the Surgical Undergraduate Education Committee at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. In her free time, Dr. Roy is an avid runner, reader and traveler.
After graduating from medical school at McGill University, Dr. Roy joined the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of Toronto where she currently is a resident physician. Dr. Roy enrolled in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) as a graduate student in clinical epidemiology and health care research in July 2016. Her research work is supported by the Surgeon Scientist (SSTP) and Clinician-Investigator (CIP) programs at University of Toronto and has been financed by the highly competitive Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship (Canadian Institute of Health Research). Dr. Roy’s research has reinforced her interest in clinical epidemiology of the hand surgery patient population within the domains of health literacy, decision making, and clinical outcomes. Moreover, the applicant has demonstrated a particular interest in medical education and leadership initiatives. During the course of her graduate studies, she has been occupying the role of resident representative for the Clinician-Investigator Program (CIP) Committee, for the IHPME Clinical Epidemiology Advisory Committee, and for the Surgical Undergraduate Education Committee at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. In her free time, Dr. Roy is an avid runner, reader and traveler.