Limitations
As a cross-sectional online survey study, several major limitations could have biased the findings. First, the survey invitation was initially distributed to interventional cardiologists attending the national cardiology conference and then circulated via several social medias. The non-random recruitment method inherently poses a higher risk of selection bias than a random recruitment method. However, it is expected that the selection bias would be minimal as the distribution of surveyed physicians reveals great regional variance among participants. Second, the absence of a mandatory request for physicians who read the invitation to complete this survey could associate the study with response bias. Third, responses to questions that require participants to recall memory or estimate (e.g., ICP workload, sick leave days due to pain in the last five years) could generate information bias. Lastly, the comorbidities information collected from the survey could be substantially under-reported as the participants were not required to provide medical evidence for their comorbidities. However, the reported pain-related OHHs should be reliable as pain is a sensory symptom.