Anesthesiologist: the patient's perception

Patient Opinions and Side Effects Before and After General Anesthesia for Surgery

As the number of surgical procedures performed the world over continues to increase, so does the number of anesthetic procedures needed for those surgeries to occur. While much thought and research has been focused on the perspective of the anesthesiologist, little has been explored from the perspective of the patient receiving anesthesia. The purpose of this study was to explore the general public's opinions and experiences of general anesthesia, as well as any change in their perception after having undergone a procedure requiring it. We decided that further inquiry into the subject was warranted, and we decided to run an online Qualtrics survey in order to make that inquiry. The key takeaway from our online anonymous survey shows that there is a significant amount of anxiety related to anesthesia, but that most people specify a large decrease in said anxiety after having undergone the procedure. Noticeably, people were made more comfortable by discussing anesthesia with people who had lived through the experience, and people believed they would be significantly comforted by the presence of therapy animals prior to beginning their procedures. We hope that our exploratory research will promote future research into this topic in order to improve the healthcare outcomes of a significant number of patients. We believe that this data has opened up many potential avenues for further exploration and research, as well as potentially being able to guide surgical practice.

Perception and knowledge of anesthesia and the role of anesthesiologists : a Belgian single-center cross-sectional survey

Study Objective : To assess the knowledge of anesthesia and the role of anesthesiologists and evaluate the prevalence of concerns of certain risks of anesthesia and surgery in Belgian patients. Design : Observational mono-center cross-sectional survey. Setting : Preoperative patients planned for elective surgery in Jessa Hospital, Belgium. Interventions : An observational survey in Dutch. Measurements : Patient demographics and characteristics, perception of the patient of the expertise, role, and responsibility of the anesthesiologist, knowledge of the patient regarding anesthesia, and patients´ fear of specific risks and side effects of anesthesia and surgery. Associations were analyzed with the Pearson correlation coefficient or the Spearman rank’s correlation coefficient. Main Results : In total 361 patients completed the survey. Patient demographics were as follows : 54.8% males, mean age (± SD) 58,84 ± 16,38 years. Most patients (87.3%) recognized anesthesiologists as specially trained medical doctors but more than 50% underestimated their different perioperative responsibilities. Patients underestimated the dura-tion of education of an anesthesiologist in 84.2%. Their role at the intensive care unit (69.3%), the emergency department (71.2%), and the delivery room (71.2%) were relatively well known. Their role at the chronic pain management clinic (44.8%) and the preoperative anesthesia consultation (40.7%) was less well known. Some patients thought that general anesthesia frequently results in brain damage (22.7%). Older age and lower educational level were associated with lower knowledge. In general, 8.3% of all patients were very anxious about anesthesia, 22.7% somewhat, and 69% not at all. Female gender and lower educational level were positively correlated with a higher risk of fear. : Most patients in this single-center Belgian cohort were aware that anesthesiologists are specialized medical doctors. Overall, the patient´s knowledge of the anesthesiologist’s expertise and responsibilities and anesthesia was rather limited.