Scale assessing patient's satisfaction with anaesthesia. II. Preliminary clinical results

Purpose: To assess the patient's experience of anaesthesia in the early pos toperative period, with a self-completed questionnaire (Evan). Study design: Descriptive and evaluative study. Patients: The study included 742 adults undergoing an elective surgical or non surgical procedure under anaesthesia. Methods: An Evan questionnaire with 25 questions was completed 24 hours aft er anaesthesia by the patient. The questionnaire explored six areas, each o ne being marked out from 0 to 100, as the visual analogue scale. The marks were compared with consideration of age, gender, ASA physical class, type o f anaesthesia, anaesthesia duration and type of surgery. Results: The mean global mark was 76 +/- 9 (min-max: 34-99). Marks were low er in the youngest patients, in females, in ASA 1 patients, in longest surg ical procedures, especially with regard to areas belonging to "apprehension ", "pain-discomfort" and "physical needs". The lowest mark was given for th e "information" provided during the pre-anaesthetic evaluation. Differences in marks occurred also between surgical specialities. Conclusion: The Evan questionnaire is a valuable tool for assessing the pat ient's opinion on the perioperative period. Further studies are required to extend its use to other fields, as ambulatory surgery. (C) 1999 Editions s cientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.