Assessment of knowledge of General and Local Anesthesia among Patients Undergoing Elective Surgery

Objective: Adequate knowledge of anesthesia and anesthesiologist can reducepatient anxiety. However, patients in developing countries are known to have relatively lesserknowledge and awareness regarding anesthesia. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge ofpatients referred for elective surgery regarding regional and general anesthesia and relatedfactors.Method: In this descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study, 370 subjects wereevaluated by a simple non-random sampling method. The researcher constructed aquestionnaire study tool designed to assess demographic variables, backgrounds, and patients'level of awareness. After the collection, data were entered into the SPSS 21 software andwere analyzed using chi-square, variance analysis and independent t-test.Result: The mean age of our patients was 43.09±17.79 years and the meanscore of knowledge regarding general and local anesthesia was 3.62±1.35 and 2.65±1.53respectively. In this study, patients' awareness about general and local anesthesia had asignificant association with female gender, age group 30-40 years, postgraduate education,government job previous local anesthesia, trust in the physician, having a history of surgeryand willingness to visit the anesthesiologist before the surgery. In addition, patients who hadeyes nose and throat surgery, and their source of information was booked had greater scores,p<0.005. Individuals were more aware of common side effects of local anesthesia than thoseof general anesthesia. However, over half of the patients preferred general anesthesia due tofear of experiencing sight and sound during surgery.Conclusions: Conducted from the results of the study, the awareness of patients about generalanesthesia was greater than regional anesthetic. Overall increasing awareness by strengtheningthe level of confidence and trust in anesthesiologists, can lead to better postoperative outcomesand reduce patients’ anxiety levels.

Assessment of knowledge of General and Local Anesthesia among Patients Undergoing Elective Surgery Keywords:

Surgery , Awareness , knowledge , anesthesiologist , anxiety