Patient perceptions about anesthesia and anesthesiologists before and after surgical procedures

Sao Paulo Medical Journal

Fernanda Leite²  Leopoldo Muniz Da Silva²  Sckarlet Ernandes Biancolin²  Adriano Dias²  Yara Marcondes Machado Castiglia¹ 

[1] ,Universidade Estadual Paulista Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu Botucatu São Paulo ,Brazil

关键词: Anesthesia;    Ethics;    General surgery;    Human resources;    Perioperative care;    Anestesia;    Ética;    Cirurgia geral;    Recursos humanos;    Assistência perioperatória;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S1516-31802011000400005

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Anesthesiologist-patient relationships are established preoperatively and intraoperatively. These are opportunities for providing correct information about anesthesia/anesthesiologists, thereby improving outcomes. The aim here was to evaluate patients' perceptions about anesthesiologists before anesthesia and to identify whether the anesthetic care would change such perceptions. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective cross-sectional study using data obtained in 2007-2008, at a tertiary university hospital. METHODS: 518 patients aged 16 years or over were interviewed before and after anesthesia exposure. A questionnaire was used to determine patient characteristics and perceptions of anesthesia/anesthesiologists. RESULTS: The patients were 16-89 years of age and 59.8% had attended elementary school. 79.1% said that anesthesiologists were specialized physicians. Anesthesiologists' roles were associated with loss of consciousness (35.5% pre-anesthesia; 43.5% post-anesthesia), pain relief (29.7% pre-anesthesia, 31.7% post-anesthesia), vital sign monitoring (17.6% pre-anesthesia, 35% post-anesthesia; P < 0.05); and drug administration (10.8% pre-anesthesia, 43.9% post-anesthesia; P < 0.05). The level of confidence in the physician was rated high (82.2% and 89.8% pre- and post-anesthesia, respectively; P < 0.05) or intermediate (5.8% and 6.6% pre- and post-anesthesia, respectively; P < 0.05). The care provided by anesthesiologists was classified as: elucidating (52.8%), encouraging (52.6%), neutral (10.2%) and careless (0.8%). CONCLUSION: Patients' perceptions of anesthesiologists' roles were fairly good, but improvements in this relationship still need to be pursued, to achieve better outcomes. Anesthetic care was important in providing information, confidence and reassurance among patients, regarding their perceptions. Anesthesiologists should not miss opportunities to provide excellent professional care for patients, thereby improving anesthesia outcomes and their image.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
 All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License