Surgeons' Perception Questionnaire on Robotics (SPQR): development and preliminary validation of a surgeon-reported instrument for robotic surgery.

Robotic surgical platforms are diversifying, and clinical outcomes are increasingly comparable across systems, yet the console surgeon's subjective experience remains poorly characterized. We developed a surgeon-reported questionnaire on robotic surgical systems and performed a preliminary psychometric evaluation in robotic radical prostatectomy. The Surgeons' Perception Questionnaire on Robotics (SPQR) includes 31 five-point items in six domains: technical and operational aspects, key surgical tasks, ergonomics and physical comfort, communication and workflow integration, learning curve, and overall evaluation. In a cross-sectional web-based survey, surgeons rated the platform they primarily used for robotic radical prostatectomy. Internal consistency was assessed with polychoric-based Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega; exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed in the same sample. Fifty-nine surgeons participated (response rate 42%); 81% evaluated the da Vinci Xi. Overall internal consistency was high (alpha 0.96; omega 0.97). Alpha and omega were ≥ 0.84 in five domains but below 0.70 for ergonomics and physical comfort (0.64 and 0.67). EFA suggested three factors (system performance and satisfaction; learning curve and training; ergonomics). CFA showed high incremental fit (comparative fit index 0.985) but inadequate absolute fit (root mean square error of approximation 0.097; standardized root mean square residual 0.135), and the ergonomics factor was weakly defined. The SPQR showed high internal consistency in most domains and a provisional multidimensional structure. Because the sample was small, highly experienced, predominantly male, and dominated by one platform, these findings require confirmation in larger independent cohorts before the SPQR is used for platform comparisons.