title: Validation of a pre-anaesthetic screening questionnaire.
abstract: We developed a screening questionnaire to be used by nurses to decide which patients should see an anaesthetist for further evaluation before the day of surgery. Our objective was to measure the accuracy of responses to the questionnaire. Agreement between questionnaire responses and the anaesthetist's assessment was assessed. For questions with a prevalence of 5 to 95%, the Kappa coefficient was used; percentage agreement was used for all other questions. Criterion validity was excellent/good for all questions with a prevalence between 5 and 95%, except for the question 'Do you have kidney disease?' For questions with prevalence < 5%, all demonstrated adequate criterion validity except the questions 'Has anyone in your family had a problem following an anaesthetic?' and 'If you have been put to sleep for an operation were there any anaesthetic problems?' Therefore, it is reasonable for nurses to use this questionnaire to determine which patients an anaesthetist should see before the day of surgery.
authors.affiliation: University Department of Anaesthesia, Gartnavel General Hospital, 30 Shelley Court, Glasgow G12 OYN, UK. gcl347@clinmed.ac.uk
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Hilditch
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Asbury
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jack
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McGrane
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing*; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods / Q000451:nursing*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D012606:Scotland; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires