Background: The public consciousness towards anesthesiologist and anesthesia is limited even in urban population. Our cross-sectional analysis highlights this lack of public awareness and discusses possible remedies to overcome these limitations. Materials and Methods: Surgical outpatient department was screened for 6 months period in King Abdulaziz Hospital. A questionnaire divided into three parts (awareness about anesthesiologist, consent, present surgical experience) was filled out for each patient. The patients on the basis of their answers were classified as aware or unaware, furthermore, source of patient data was analyzed. Results: Even with an exceptionally low threshold, only 44.86% of population could be categorized as aware, and commonest source of their information was not anesthesiologist but surgeon (56%). 89.7% patients were not aware of contents of pre-operative consent they had signed and further, only 21.4% were aware of anesthesia-related issues. Pain was reported as the most mutual pre-operative fear and post-operative patient concern. 40.2% patients due to lack of pre-operative counseling were not able to recognize the type of anesthesia and thought they had received both general anesthesia and spinal anesthesia. Finally, after explaining the role of anesthesia for surgery, 98.1% patients presented desire to meet the anesthesiologist before if they were to be operated in future. Conclusion: The awareness about anesthesia is particularly low likely due to low knowledge rates and lack of pre-operative counseling by anesthesiologist. Both patient and anesthesiologist should understand the significance of consent, as it is not only a legal binding but can eliminate pre-operative factitious fears of patients and can improve patient satisfaction towards surgery.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.