STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess patients' perception of the role of an anesthesiologist in a Caribbean country. DESIGN: Self-administered structured questionnaire evaluation. SETTING: Preoperative waiting rooms of three tertiary-care teaching hospitals: Port of Spain General Hospital, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, and San Fernando General Hospital, Trinidad. PATIENTS: 424 adult surgical patients awaiting elective surgery. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS: A questionnaire was devised to test the knowledge of the respondents regarding the job description, attitudes, and various roles of anesthesiologists in the hospital. MAIN RESULTS: 371 completed responses were obtained for analysis. One tenth of the respondents did not know who an anesthesiologist was and 59% of them knew that an anesthesiologist was a doctor; there was a statistically significant association of the educational level of the respondent and this response. Of the respondents, 70% felt that the anesthesiologists were easy to talk to and pleasant by the bedside; 46% responded that the anesthesiologists did not discuss the complications and side effects of drugs before the procedure; 5% considered the anesthesiologists as more important than the surgeon, and 59% considered both equally important. Only 19% responded that they knew that the anesthesiologists had a role in the intensive care unit. CONCLUSIONS: Patients still have inadequate knowledge regarding anesthesiologists and their different roles in hospitals.
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess patients' perception of the role of an anesthesiologist in a Caribbean country. DESIGN: Self-administered structured questionnaire evaluation. SETTING: Preoperative waiting rooms of three tertiary-care teaching hospitals: Port of Spain General Hospital, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, and San Fernando General Hospital, Trinidad. PATIENTS: 424 adult surgical patients awaiting elective surgery. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS: A questionnaire was devised to test the knowledge of the respondents regarding the job description, attitudes, and various roles of anesthesiologists in the hospital. MAIN RESULTS: 371 completed responses were obtained for analysis. One tenth of the respondents did not know who an anesthesiologist was and 59% of them knew that an anesthesiologist was a doctor; there was a statistically significant association of the educational level of the respondent and this response. Of the respondents, 70% felt that the anesthesiologists were easy to talk to and pleasant by the bedside; 46% responded that the anesthesiologists did not discuss the complications and side effects of drugs before the procedure; 5% considered the anesthesiologists as more important than the surgeon, and 59% considered both equally important. Only 19% responded that they knew that the anesthesiologists had a role in the intensive care unit. CONCLUSIONS:Patients still have inadequate knowledge regarding anesthesiologists and their different roles in hospitals.
Authors: Jean Selim; Marc Selim; Zoé Demailly; Thierry Wable; Thomas Clavier; Emmanuel Besnier; Bertrand Dureuil; Benoît Veber; Zoubir Djerada; Vincent Compere Journal: Front Med (Lausanne) Date: 2022-04-21
Authors: Jae Jun Lee; Nak Hun Lee; Chong Min Park; Sung Jin Hong; Myoung-Hoon Kong; Kook Hyun Lee; Jun Heum Yon; Sun Ok Song Journal: Korean J Anesthesiol Date: 2014-01-28