Assessment of patient awareness and satisfaction

Abstract

Introduction In order for patients to make an informed decision, the information provided to them must be sufficient and comprehensible [1]. Research shows that improperly presented and/or understood information can increase the risk of medical errors and is associated with lower patient satisfaction [2]. Such practices also increase preoperative anxiety and adverse nocebo effects experienced by the patients, which directly complicates anesthesia and increases the risk of postoperative anesthesia complications [3,4,5,6]. Studies have shown that patient satisfaction is closely related to patient awareness and could be increased by providing them sufficient and appropriate information about anesthesia in the preoperative period [7,8,9,10]. Aim The purpose of this study was to assess patient awareness and satisfaction with general anesthesia. Methods A one-time quantitative study was conducted between March and June of 2021 at the University Hospital's Department of General Surgery in Lithuania using a questionnairesurvey and included 350 patients who underwent general anesthesia. The questionnaire was based on the scientific literature analysis and two other questionnaires: Patient satisfaction and experience with anesthesia (ASA) and Health literacy and anesthesia: patients' knowledge of anesthesiologist roles and information desired in the perioperative visit [11,12]. Results were calculated using arithmetic mean, standard deviation, median, minimum and maximum values, nonparametric Chi-square, ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc tests. The significance level of p=0,05 was used to form statistical conclusions. Results The majority of women (n=178; 74.8%) and men (n=90, 80.4%) indicated that health care professionals provided sufficient information about anesthesia during the preoperative period. […].