Variation in Use of Breast Surgery and Characteristics of Hospitals' Surgical Staff

Objective . To assess whether and how the characteristics of hospitals' surgical staff can predict utilization of breast conserving surgery. We anticipated that the use of the procedure was more frequent in hospitals with a greater proportion of younger and female surgeons on their staff. Setting . Sixty-two hospitals with different level of organization for the care of cancer patient from eight Italian regions were included. Design . We collected information on the personal characteristics (age and sex) of all surgeons on the staff of the participating centers. A concurrent pattern of care study was undertaken, in order to assess the utilization of breast conserving procedures. Results . The use of conservative surgery was 16%, 20%, 31%, in centers with 0%