Patient Satisfaction with Anaesthesia: Perioperative Questionnaire versus Face-to-face Survey

Introduction: Factors favouring patient satisfaction in anaesthesia are availability of services based on Institutional facilities, mutual between with anaesthesiologist and patients, skill of healthcare experts and patient requirements. When one wishes to improve response rates and raise the calibre of the data captured, face-to-face surveys are among the greatest methods for gathering data. It can be challenging to quantify subject satisfaction in anaesthesia, since subjective indications vary by person, culture and background. Patients rating of their own satisfaction can estimate the care given during procedure, which cannot be easily assessed in any other way.

Aim: To assess patient satisfaction regarding the care provided during anaesthesia and to find out whether dissatisfactions are better elicited through face-to-face interviews or questionnaire.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients undergoing surgery under general or regional anaesthesia at Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, Sri Devaraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research, Tamaka, Kolar, Karnataka, India, from November 2021 to February 2022. Estimated sample size was 74. As per American Society of Anaesthesiologist (ASA) grades 1 and 2, adults in the age group of 18–65 years were divided into two groups using chits. In group A, face-to-face interview was done on postoperative day 2 by anaesthesiology resident. In group B, questionnaire was given on postoperative day 2 by anaesthesiology resident. The questions on anaesthesia-related dissatisfaction were posed in a semi-dichotomous scale (no/yes-mild, moderate, severe); the questions on satisfaction with anaesthesia care were given on a 4-item scale (extremely satisfied/satisfied/neutral/dissatisfied). The data was analysed by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 22.0, and R environment version 3.2.2 and Microsoft word and Excel have been used to generate graphs and tables.

Results: Patient population included in study was 74, among which 63 (85.1%) patients were extremely satisfied with the care given by Anaesthesia Department in general, 7 (9.5%) were satisfied, 4 (5.4%) were neutral, and no one were dissatisfied. Among questionnaire group 36 (97.3%) patients were extremely satisfied with anaesthesia care in general, while 27 (73%) of face-to-face group were extremely satisfied with anaesthesia care in general. Among anaesthesia related dissatisfactions 65 (87.8%) of patients did not complain of postoperative nausea and vomiting. In the present study, 52 (70.3%) patients were extremely satisfied with pain relief after surgery.

Conclusion: Face-to-face interview identifies more patients who report lower degree of satisfaction with anaesthesia, it can be concluded that, interviewing is better suited for detecting quality problems with anaesthesia care than written questionnaire.