Assessment of knowledge of general and local anesthesia among patients undergoing elective surgery

Adequate knowledge about anesthesia and anesthesiologists can help reduce patient anxiety. However, patients in developing countries often have less knowledge and awareness about anesthesia. This study aims to assess how much patients scheduled for elective surgery know about regional and general anesthesia and the factors influencing their understanding.

This study used a descriptive-analytic cross-sectional design to evaluate 370 participants selected through a simple non-random sampling method. The researcher developed a questionnaire to gather information on demographic variables, backgrounds, and patients' level of awareness. Data collected were then entered into SPSS 21 software and analyzed using chi-square tests, analysis of variance, and independent t-tests.

The average age of our patients was 43.09 years with a standard deviation of 17.79 years. Their average knowledge score regarding general anesthesia was 3.62 with a standard deviation of 1.35, while their average score for local anesthesia was 2.65 with a standard deviation of 1.53. In this study, patients' awareness about general and local anesthesia showed significant associations with being female, belonging to the 30-40 age group, having postgraduate education, having a previous local anesthesia experience, having trust in their physician, having a history of surgery, and being willing to visit an anesthesiologist before surgery. Furthermore, patients who underwent surgeries related to eyes, nose, and throat, and those who had limited sources of information, scored higher on the knowledge test (p<0.005). Participants were more aware of common side effects associated with local anesthesia compared to general anesthesia. However, more than half of the patients preferred general anesthesia due to fear of experiencing sensations and sounds during surgery.

According to the study findings, patients were more aware of general anesthesia compared to regional anesthesia. Improving awareness levels by enhancing confidence and trust in anesthesiologists could potentially result in improved postoperative outcomes and decreased levels of patient anxiety.

Read this research here; https://bit.ly/3X1Qkt8  

For publishing scholarly article in Bentham journals, please visit: https://bentham.manuscriptpoint.com/?utm_source=eurekanews&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=callforpapers