title: [Appropriate evaluation of total workload in anesthesia].
abstract: Number of cases performed or total anesthesia time is usually used to evaluate workload anesthesiologists. However, each case is different in intensity of anesthetic management and these makes the evaluation difficult. We devised a total workload in anesthesia formula to account for technical, tactical, and physical factors in each case, as well as for number of cases and total anesthesia time. The present study evaluated reasonableness of this formula. We compared number of cases, hours of work, medical treatment fee and the total workload in anesthesia among anesthesiologists who had worked in our hospital in 2001. Each anesthesiologist answered questionnaires regarding number of cases, total anesthesia time, and total workload during 2001. Among anesthesiologists, we found significant differences in number of cases and total anesthesia time and medical treatment fee but no difference in total workload in anesthesia. The anesthesiologists indicated the same trend in their questionnaire responses. Evaluating only number of cases or total anesthetic time or medical treatment fee provides insufficient information to compare anesthesia workload. Our formula is a more appropriate index to quantify workload.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Iida Municipal Hospital, Iida 385-8502.
authors.forename: Noriaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mochizuki
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maruyama
authors.forename: Katsumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: Tetsutaro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Otagiri
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000776:Anesthesiology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018588:Fee-for-Service Plans; D006801:Humans; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*