Abstract

Background: Surgeons often operate in high-stress environments, where elevated stress levels can impair performance. Mindfulness has shown promise in regulating stress in experienced clinicians and high-pressure environments. However, its effects on early technical skill acquisition and self-perception in novice learners remain unclear. This study investigated whether a brief pre-task mindfulness exercise could influence early laparoscopic skill acquisition and self-perception in novices.

Methods: Thirty medical students were assigned either to a mindfulness group (n=15) or a control group (n=15). All completed three baseline trials of a validated laparoscopic peg-threading task. The intervention consisted of a 5-minute body scan (a mindfulness exercise focusing attention on different body parts) while the control group listened to a neutral audio recording. Both groups then performed three further post-intervention trials. Performance metrics including task completion time and instrument tracking metrics were measured during all tasks. Subjective workload was assessed using the NASA-TLX (National Aeronautics and Space Administration task load index).

Results: Control group participants became significantly swifter at task completion when comparing baseline performance to their final trial (P=0.002). The mindfulness group did not achieve a significant time improvement. The control group also showed significant improvement in instrument movement smoothness (P=0.021), whereas the mindfulness group did not. Despite their objective performance, participants in the mindfulness group rated their own performance significantly higher than those in the control group (P=0.047) on the NASA-TLX.

Conclusions: A single-session mindfulness body scan was associated with slower early skill acquisition when compared with controls. Despite slower objective skill acquisition, participants who undertook the mindfulness exercise reported significantly higher perceived performance, highlighting a dissociation between objective outcomes and self-assessment.