Assessment of patient’s perception and knowledge towards anesthesia services at Dilla University Referral Hospital, South Ethiopia, 2021: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: The poor community understanding of anesthesia professionals and their discipline has been a long-standing and obvious problem. Many studies have been done in the developed countries investigating public awareness of anesthetists but there are few publications from the developing countries including Ethiopia. Patients’ knowledge of anesthetists and their roles inside and outside the operation theatre is poor worldwide. Objective: This study is aimed to assess patients’ perception and knowledge of anesthesia service among patients admitted for surgery at Dilla University Referral Hospital (DURH), Southern Ethiopia, 2021. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional questionnaire survey was carried out on consecutive adult patients aged 18 years and above that had undergone surgery at DURH, conducted over four months. Data were presented using tables, and graphs and summarized by using dummy tables. After carefully analyzing the collected data, a conclusion was made with constructive recommendations. Result: A total of 396 patients were initially included in the study while 27 patients declined to participate with a 93% response rate. The mean age of participants was 39.5±14.9 years, and more than half of the respondents 225 (61%) were male. Regarding the type of surgery done 238 (64.6%) respondents were emergency the rest of 35.4% were elective surgery. Of 369 respondents, only 42% knew that anesthetist is the one who gives anesthesia and 38% knew that a doctor does. Conclusion: The perception of most patients is that anesthesia is all about “putting patients to sleep and waking them up.” There was poor knowledge of patients regarding the role of anesthetists beyond the confines of the operating theater. Therefore, there is a need for intensified public education on the importance of anesthesia and the diverse roles anesthetists play in ensuring holistic health care delivery.