The predictive value of aptitude assessment in laparoscopic surgery:a meta-analysis

ContextCurrent methods of assessing candidates for medical specialties that involve laparoscopic skills suffer from a lack of instruments to assess the ability to work in a minimally invasive surgery environment.ObjectivesA meta-analysis was conducted to investigate whether aptitude assessment can be used to predict variability in the acquisition and performance of laparoscopic skills.MethodsPubMed, PsycINFO and Google Scholar were searched to November 2014 for published and unpublished studies reporting the measurement of a form of aptitude for laparoscopic skills. The quality of studies was assessed with QUADAS-2. Summary correlations were calculated using a random-effects model.ResultsThirty-four studies were found to be eligible for inclusion; six of these studies used an operating room performance measurement. Laparoscopic skills correlated significantly with visual-spatial ability (r=0.32, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.25-0.39; pConclusionsIn general, aptitude assessments are associated with laparoscopic skill level. Simulator-based assessment of aptitude appears to have the potential to represent a job sample and to enable the assessment of all forms of aptitude for laparoscopic surgery at once. A laparoscopy aptitude test can be a valuable additional tool in the assessment of candidates for medical specialties that require laparoscopic skills.Discuss ideas arising from the article at discuss.