Improved satisfaction of preoperative patients after group video-teaching during interview at preanesthetic evaluation clinic: the experience of a medical center in Taiwan.
BACKGROUND
Anesthesiologist-directed anesthetic preoperative evaluation clinic (APEC) is used to prepare patients to receive anesthesia for surgery. Studies have shown that APEC can reduce preoperative tests, consultations, surgery delays and cancellations. APEC with video-teaching has been purposed as a medium to provide comprehensive information about the process of anesthesia but it has not been practiced in small groups of patients. It is rational to assume that video-teaching in a small group patients can provide better information to patients to understand the process of anesthesia and in turn improve their satisfaction in anesthesia practice. This study was designed to evaluate the difference of satisfaction between patients who joined in small group video-teaching at APEC and patients who paid a traditional preoperative visit in the waiting area, using questionnaire for evaluation.


METHODS
Totally, 237 eligible patients were included in the study in a space of two months. Patients were divided in two groups; 145 patients joined the small group video-teaching designated as study group and 92 patients who were paid traditional preoperative visit at the waiting area served as control. All patients were requested to fill a special questionnaire after postoperative visit entrusted to two non-medical persons.


RESULTS
There were significantly higher scores of satisfaction in anesthesia inclusive of waiting time for surgery in the operation room, attitude towards anesthetic staffs during postoperative visit and management of complications in patients who were offered small group video-teaching in comparison with patients of traditional preoperative visit.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicated that APEC with group video-teaching could not only make patients more satisfied with process of anesthesia in elective surgery but also reduce the expenditure of hospitalization and anesthetic manpower.
Yang
Ya-Ling
YL
Department of Anesthesiology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC.
Wang
Kuan-Jen
KJ
Chen
Wei-Hao
WH
Chuang
Kuan-Chih
KC
Tseng
Chia-Chih
CC
Liu
Chien-Cheng
CC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014743:Videotape Recording