Knowledge about anesthesiology and the anesthesiologists among patients in a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Object: With the rapid proliferation of the electronic media, the general public is considered to be well-aware of the working of the different branches of medicine as well as the specialists practicing in these disciplines. We aimed to determine the knowledge of patients reporting to our hospital about an anesthesiologist's role and responsibilities along with the field of the anesthesiology. Methodology: This cross-sectional survey was carried out at National Guard Health Affairs, from 1st December 2017 to 30th March 2018. After informed consent, patients were asked to answer the questionnaire comprising of 12 open-ended questions regarding their knowledge about anesthesiologist and anesthesiology. Scoring as per correct and incorrect questions was done using SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL version 19. Results: The four months cross-sectional survey included 385 patients from our teaching hospital. Variables recorded included age, gender, type of surgery, educational level, occupation, and previous surgery. The majority of the patients 375 (97.4%) had very poor knowledge about anesthesiology and the role of the anesthesiologists, while only 10 (2.6%) patients were found knowledgeable about anesthesiologists (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Knowledge about the role of the anesthesiologist and the anesthesiology in the healthcare system is very poor among Saudi patients. There is a strong need to spread awareness about anesthesiology and the anesthesiologist among common people to increase communication for the betterment of society.