Knowledge and attitudes of patients about the role of anesthesiologists in a military hospital

Abstract

Objectives: We designed a study to assess the Turkish patients\' understanding and knowledge on the anesthesiologist\'s role and to evaluate the influence of the patient\'s prior education, preoperative anxiety and experience with anesthesia on such understanding. Materials and Methods: Two hundred adult patients undergoing general anesthesia for surgery, from September to December 2008 at Etimesgut Military Hospital were enrolled in the study. A self-administered structured questionnaire distributed to patients waiting for preoperative evaluation. Results: Only 40% of respondents knew that the anesthesiologist was a doctor. There was a relationship between the level of education and the knowledge of the patient regarding whether the functions and responsibilities of an anesthesiologist in the hospital. Conclusions: The responses have shown poor knowledge of the public regarding the role of anesthesiologists. It indicates a need for exposure of the specialty to patients that can increase patient\'s knowledge that may help to decrease preoperative anxiety.

Keywords

• Anesthesiologist, patient, knowledge

Knowledge and attitudes of patients about the role of anesthesiologists in a military hospital

Öz

Amaç: Biz bu çalışmada Türk hastaların anestezistlerin görevlerini anlama ve bu konuda bilgi düzeylerini değerlendirmek ve hastaların eğitim düzeyi, preoperatif anksiyete ve anesteztezi tecrübelerinin bu konudaki bilgilerine etkilerini araştırmayı amaçladık. Gereç ve Yöntem: Etimesgut Asker Hastanesinde 2008 yılı Eylül Aralık ayları arası cerrahi için genel anestezi alacak 200 hasta çalışmaya dahil edildi. Preoperatif değerlendirme için bekleyen hastalara anket uygulandı. Bulgular: Cevap verenlerden sadece %40\'I anestezistin doktor olduğunu biliyordu. Hastaların eğitim seviyesiyle anestezistlerin hastanedeki fonksiyon ve sorumlulukları hakkında bilgileri arasında ilişki vardı. Sonuç: Sonuçlar halkın anestezistlerin rolü hakkında düşük bilgi seviyesine sahip olduğunu göstermiştir. Bu nedenle uzmanlığın hastalara daha fazla anlatılması gerekmektedir. Böylece hastaların bilgileri artabilir ve bu da preoperatif anksiyetenin azalmasına yardımcı olabilir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Anestezistin rolü, hasta, bilgi

Kaynakça

1. Swinhoe CF, Groves ER. Patients’ knowledge of an- aesthetic practice and the role of anaesthetists. An- aesthesia 1994;49(2):165-6.
2. Simini B. Anaesthetist: the wrong name for the right doctor. Lancet 2000;355(234):1892.
3. Cooper GM, Hutton P. Anaesthesia and the undergrad- uate medical curriculum. Br J Anaesth 1995;74(1):3-5.
4. Hobson JA, Slade P, Wrench IJ, Power L. Preopera- tive anxiety and postoperative satisfaction in women undergoing elective caesarean section. Int J of Obst Anest 2006;15(1):18–23.
5. Scott A. Managing anxiety in ICU patients: the role of pre-operative information provision. Nursing in Critical Care 2004;9(2):72-9.
6. Spielberger CD, Gorsuch RL, Luchens RE. Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Palo Alto, CA: Con- sulting Psychologists Press; 1970.
7. Öner N, Le Compte A(1983) Durumluk Sürekli Kaygı Envanteri El Kitabı, 1. Basım. İstanbul: Boğaziçi Üni- versitesi Yayınları; 1983.
8. Beck AT, Epstein N, Brown G, Steer RA. An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: psychometric proper- ties. J Consult Clin Psychol 1988 ;56(6):893-7.

9. Ulusoy M, Şahin N, Erkmen H. Turkish Version of The Beck Anxiety Inventory: Psychometric Properties. J Cogn Psychot 1998;12(2):163-72.
10. Hariharan S, Merritt-Charles L, Chen D. Patient per- ception of the role of anesthesiologists: a perspective from the Caribbean. J Clin Anesth 2006;18(7):504-9.
11. Shevde K, Panagopoulos G: A survey of 800 patients’ knowledge, attitudes, and concerns regarding anes- thesia. Anesth Analg 1991;73(2):190–8.
12. Savaş HA, Yumru M, Göral L, Özen ME. Information and attitudes associated with psychiatry and psychol- ogy in the context of psychiatric disorders in southeast of Turkey: a crossection from Gaziantep city. Anato- lian J Psychiatry 2006; 7(2):140-9.
13. Calman LM, Mihalache A, Evron S, Ezri T. Current understanding of the patient’s attitude toward the an- esthesiologist’s role and practice in Israel: effect of the patient’s experience. Clin Anesth 2003;15(6):451-4.
14. Irwin MG, Soon NT, Fung SK. A profile of anaes- thesia trainees in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Med J 2001;7(2):227-35.
15. Patrick JD, Dawes BS. Informed consent: what do pa- tients want to know? J Royal Soc Med 1994;87(1):149- 52.
16. Vila JJ, Jiménez FJ, Inarrairaegui M, Prieto C, Nantes O, Borda F. Informed consent document in gastroin- testinal endoscopy: understanding and acceptance by patients. Rev Esp Enferm Dig 2006;98(2):101-11.