Development and validation of a perioperative satisfaction questionnaire.
BACKGROUND
Satisfaction is considered a valuable measure of outcome of healthcare processes. Only a few anesthesia-related validated questionnaires are reported. Because their scope is restricted to specific clinical contexts, their use remains limited. The objective of the current study was to develop and validate a self-reported questionnaire, Evaluation du Vecu de l'Anesthesie Generale (EVAN-G), assessing the satisfaction of the perioperative period surrounding general anesthesia.


METHODS
Development of the EVAN-G questionnaire comprised a phase of item generation and a phase of psychometric validation. The patient sample was generated to be proportionally matched to the population of patients undergoing general anesthesia in France. The structure of the questionnaire was identified studying interitem, item-dimension, and interdimension correlations and factor analyses. Data were concurrently gathered to assess external validity. The discriminant validity was determined by comparison of scores across well known patient groups. Reliability was assessed by computation of Cronbach alpha coefficients and by test-retest.


RESULTS
Eight hundred seventy-four patients were recruited in eight anesthesia departments. The EVAN-G includes 26 items; six specific scores and one global index score are available. Correlations between EVAN-G scores and other concurrent measures supported convergent validity. The EVAN-G correlated poorly with age, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status, total anesthesia time, and number of previous anesthesias. Significantly higher satisfaction was reported by patients older than 65 yr, belonging to the laryngeal mask group. Reliability and reproducibility were shown.


CONCLUSIONS
The EVAN-G adds important information oriented toward patients' perceptions. The authors' approach provides a novel, valid, and reliable tool that may be used in anesthesia practice.
Auquier
Pascal
P
Department of Public Health, Timone University Hospital, Marseilles, France. pascal.auquier@medecine.univ-mrs.fr
Pernoud
Nicolas
N
Bruder
Nicolas
N
Simeoni
Marie-Claude
MC
Auffray
Jean-Pierre
JP
Colavolpe
Christian
C
François
Georges
G
Gouin
François
F
Manelli
Jean-Claude
JC
Martin
Claude
C
Sapin
Christophe
C
Blache
Jean-Louis
JL
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D019990:Perioperative Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*