THE EFFECT OF A PREANESTHETIC INFORMATION BOOKLET ON PATIENT UNDERSTANDING AND SATISFACTION

Aim. To determine if a brief user friendly anaesthetic booklet complim ents the anaesthetic service currently provided, in terms of greater p atient understanding and satisfaction. Method. Two questionnaires were completed by participants in each group, one questionnaire preoperati vely and the other postoperatively. The booklet group received the ana esthetic booklet in the mail with their booking card while the control group only received their booking card. Results. Of the 209 eligible, 140 patients consented to and completed the preoperative questionnair e, of whom 53 were in the anaesthetic booklet group and 87 were in the control group. The postoperative questionnaire was completed by 38 an d 65 respectively. The anaesthetic booklet group had better understand ing of what a premed will do (p < 0.05) and how long after an anaesthe tic to wait before driving (p < 0.025). The percentage of correct answ ers for the more general anaesthetic questions was high and very simil ar in both groups. There was no significant difference in the satisfac tion scores between groups. Satisfaction scores for bath groups rose s ignificantly in the postoperative questionnaire when compared with the preoperative questionnaire (p < 0.001). Conclusion. The value of the anaesthetic booklet is in providing detailed anaesthetic information t o the patient. This will aid the preanaesthetic consultation with the anaesthetist and provide a focus for further discussion about the inte nded anaesthetic. Patient satisfaction with the anaesthetic service wa s high in both groups pre- and postoperatively and was not altered by the anaesthetic booklet.