Minerva Anestesiol 2022 05 24;88(5):343-351. Epub 2022 Jan 24.
Research Group Metrik, Bermuthshain, Germany.
Background: Previous studies showed mixed results for patient satisfaction by supplementing the preanesthetic assessment with written or audio-visual materials. We hypothesize that an audio-visual aid or a brochure in addition to face-to-face interview, leads to improved patient satisfaction and shortens the preanesthetic assessment duration.
Methods: We randomly assigned 1051 patients scheduled for preanesthetic assessment to three different groups: face-to-face preanesthetic interview alone (Group 1), videos before the interview (Group 2), and brochure before the interview (Group 3). All patients were asked to complete a postinterview questionnaire assessing patient satisfaction, knowledge gain, prior experience with anesthesia, and quality of supplementary media.
Results: The use of additional materials immediately before the preanesthetic interview did increase the overall patient satisfaction (F(2, 1003) = 3.10, P<0.05, ƞ=0.006) but not the interview satisfaction (F(2, 1011) = 0.756, P>0.05) nor information gain (procedure explanations F(2, 987) = 0.400, P>0.05) or quality of answered questions (F(2, 1029) = 0.769, P>0.05). A statistically significant effect on interview satisfaction (F(13,996) = 5.15, P<0.01., ƞ=0.063), overall satisfaction (F(13,988) = 4.25, P<0.01., ƞ=0.053) and given explanations (F(13, 972) = 3.132, P<0.001, ƞ=0.04) was associated with the explanation of different anesthetic techniques by the provider. No differences of response quality between the anesthesiologists was found (F(13, 1014) = 1.494, P>0.05).
Conclusions: Additional information imparted in the form of an educational brochure or videos immediately before the preanesthetic assessment and interview does not lead to higher patient satisfaction.