Influence of Resident Education in Correctly Diagnosing Extremity Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Table 5

Bivariate analyses for selecting correct clinical decision for general surgery residents.

Variable	OR (95% CI)	𝑃 value
Factors raising suspicion for malignancy
Largest size tumor that you would be comfortable with excising without a biopsy	1.04 (0.95, 1.13)	.45
Depth of the mass	1.07 (0.90, 1.27)	.48
Rate of growth	0.89 (0.75, 1.04)	.15
Imaging characteristics	0.88 (0.73, 1.05)	.16
Location of the mass	0.96 (0.81, 1.15)	.67
Mobility of the mass	0.91 (0.79, 1.05)	.19
Age of the patient	0.91 (0.79, 1.05)	.19
Factors impeding decision to perform a biopsy
I have decreased access to persons performing needle biopsy	1.02 (0.92, 1.13)	.74
I do not want to inconvenience the pathologist	1.03 (0.87, 1.21)	.77
I have a lack of confidence in pathology to make a diagnosis on a FNA/core biopsy	0.93 (0.83, 1.05)	.23
I feel that whole specimen will lead to a more accurate diagnosis	0.94 (0.84, 1.06)	.35
I feel that the likelihood of a soft tissue mass being malignant is low	0.94 (0.83, 1.05)	.28
I have concerns about the risks associated with biopsies	0.97 (0.86, 1.08)	.57
I am not extensively trained on the use of biopsies in residency or fellowship	0.96 (0.86, 1.06)	.40
Resident characteristics
Age	1.03 (0.98, 1.08)	.30
Gender	1.12 (0.81, 1.55)	.49
How many years of training have you completed?	1.11 (1.00, 1.23)	.04*
Dedicated STS rotation	0.96 (0.70, 1.32)	.81
Dedicated STS teaching component	0.85 (0.61, 1.17)	.32

CI: confidence interval. Significance denoted by *𝑃<.05.