• C K Hofer, M T Ganter, L Furrer, G Guthauser, R Klaghofer, and A Zollinger.
• Institut für Anästhesiologie und Intensivmedizin, Stadtspital Triemli, Zürich, Schweiz. christoph.hofer@triemli.stzh.ch
• Anaesthesist. 2004 Nov 1;53(11):1061-8.

BackgroundThis prospective survey aimed at elucidating the patients' expectations and needs regarding the pre-anaesthetic visit and the forthcoming anaesthesia. The same questionnaire was answered by both patients and anaesthesiologists.MethodsA total of 200 ASA I-III patients were interviewed prior to the preoperative anaesthetic visit. The questionnaire consisted of the topics preoperative affective situation, information and self-estimation of anaesthesia knowledge, expectations regarding the pre-anaesthetic visit/anaesthesia and extent of information concerning the perioperative course including risk and possible complications. The same questionnaire was presented to 35 certified anaesthesiologists with the request to estimate the patients' answers. Answers were rated using a Likert-scale, a comparison of patients' and anaesthesiologists' replies was performed.ResultsFor all 5 topics considerable differences between patients' answers and anaesthesiologists' rating were found (e.g. for the assessment of the affective situation, the relevance of family physicians as information source, the desired anaesthetic technique or the extent of anaesthesia-related risk information). No differences were observed for the importance of an anaesthesiologist as information source and fear reduction by the pre-anaesthetic visit.ConclusionsAnaesthesiologists tend to misinterpret many patients' expectations and attitudes. The results demonstrate the potential for quality improvement of the pre-anaesthetic visit.

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