Cultural Nuance in Orthopedic Foreign Aid: Differences in Patient Concerns

Orthopedic aid to developing nations is expanding and becoming a unique facet of the specialty. This investigation seeks to compare patient impressions and concerns regarding the care patients receive as part of an itinerant surgical aid trip in 2 nations. In 2013 and 2014, patients from 2 separate nations completed a Likert scale survey assessing impressions of the care they received at the hands of a surgical team from abroad. Mean response scores were calculated and compared using a t test. This is the first investigation to compare patient concerns across 2 nations in a surgical aid trip setting. The results highlight the importance of culture in understanding patients and the impressions of the care they receive.