Maximization Personality, Disability and Symptoms of Psychosocial Disease in Hand Surgery Patients

There are diff erent frameworks to describe how people make decisions. One framework, maximization, is an approach where individuals approach choices with a goal of fi nding the “best” possible alternative. We sought to determine the relationship between maximization and patient reported disability in patients with hand problems. We performed a cross-sectional study of 119 patients who presented to a hand surgery clinic. Patients completed a questionnaire that included sociodemographics, QuickDASH, Decisional Confl ict Scale, Pain Catastrophizing Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire, Health Anxiety Inventory and General Self-Effi cacy. Maximization did not correlate with subjective disability in patients with hand problems. Depression, pain catastrophizing and a diagnosis of upper extremity fracture had the greatest independent association with disability. In patients presenting for an initial hand surgery consultation, maximization was not associated with variation in patient reported disability or symptoms of psychosocial disease. Alternative factors infl uencing patient decision-making and outcomes should be explored. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 29(2):106–111, 2020) Keywords: hand surgery, maximization personality, patient reported outcomes, quality