Awareness about Anesthesia amid General Populace | ||||
| The Egyptian Journal of Hospital Medicine | ||||
| Article 20, Volume 69, Issue 7, October 2017, Page 2865-2870 PDF (395.33 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.12816/0042580 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Authors | ||||
| Lulwah Abdulaziz Alturaifi1; Abdulelah Ibraheem Alhatlan2; Mohammed Yaanallah M Al-Ghamdi3; Haitham Abdullah Almejally4; Mustafa Hussain H Alshawaf2; Hussien Ali S Aljaziri2; Ali Adel M Alamer2; Ghassan Ali J Alqahtani5; Afnan Khalid Alotaibi6; Abdullah Hejji A Almaihan2; Yasmin Mohamed O Sharton7; Abrar Mansour A Alhazmi6 | ||||
| 1King Khaleed Hospital in Hail | ||||
| 2King Faisal University | ||||
| 3Albaha University | ||||
| 4King Faisal Hospital,Makkah | ||||
| 5Aseer Central Hospital | ||||
| 6King Abdulaziz University | ||||
| 7King Abdulaziz University Hospital | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| 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. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Anesthesia; public awareness; pre-operative counseling; anesthesiologist | ||||
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