title: Patient knowledge of operative care.
abstract: To investigate knowledge of perioperative events, a questionnaire was administered to 111 elective surgical patients. Six topics were covered: the operation, the anaesthetic, time spent in the operating theatre, amount of post-operative pain, duration of hospital admission and time required to return to normal fitness. Apart from evaluating information-sources for each topic, the questionnaire assessed degree of knowledge and satisfaction with this information, and the relationship of these to anxiety. More than 30% of the patients responded that they had received no information about anaesthesia, time in theatre, return to fitness or pain. For each topic more than 40% desired further information. Nursing staff provided most information, although for the anaesthetic, time in theatre, return to fitness and pain, more than 60% of patients responded that nobody had provided explanation. There was no correlation between knowledge relating to the topics per se and anxiety, but there was a significant correlation between satisfaction with information and anxiety. This survey shows a considerable need for improved information provision, especially for patients in whom anxiety is associated with a desire for further explanation of operative care.
authors.affiliation: Sheffield Hospital Training Scheme, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, UK.
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety; D003142:Communication; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000523:psychology*