The Effect of an Informative Leaflet on Preoperative Anxiety and Patient's Knowledge of Anesthesia and Anxiety

Abstract

Aim: Anesthesiology is a medical specialty that is not well understood by the general public. Although in developed countries 60-90% of patients know that an "anesthesiologist" is a medical doctor, this ratio is only about 50% in developing countries. The aim of this survey is to assess if a simple and readable leaflet can improve patients' knowledge of anesthesia and of the responsibilities of anesthesiologists. Material and Method: After university ethics committee approval, 815 patients admitted to an anesthesia clinic were included in the study. Patients who gave their consent filled out a simple questionnaire about anesthesia and anesthesiologists at the time of their preoperative examination. Patients were then asked to read an information leaflet before their surgeries. The day after surgery, all patients answered the same questionnaire at the ward. Patients' answers to the preoperative and postoperative questionnaires were recorded. Results: Preoperatively 83.1% (n=677) of the patients read the leaflet. Reading the leaflet was directly correlated to educational level and age (p<0.05). When we compare the preoperative and postoperative answers, there were significant differences for these questions: "anesthesia knowledge", "where anesthesia doctor works", "knowledge of anesthesia technique", "what an anesthesia doctor does", "who applies anesthesia", "knowledge of regional anesthesia and who performs it". There was also a significiant difference for these questions concerning fear of anesthesia: "I will die" and "Fear about nausea and vomiting" (p<0.05). Discussion: The patients' poor knowledge of the risks and the practice of anesthesia is an important health problem. In the current study, a simple information leaflet read in the preoperative period managed to improve patients' knowledge of anesthesia. Most of our patients seemed to be comfortable with reading it.