ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Understanding the patient perspective on healthcare is central to the evaluation of quality. This study measured selected patient-reported outcomes after anaesthesia in order to identify targets for research and quality improvement. METHODS: This cross-sectional observational study in UK National Health Service hospitals, recruited adults undergoing non-obstetric surgery requiring anaesthesia care over a 48 h period. Within 24 h of surgery, patients completed the Bauer questionnaire (measuring postoperative discomfort and satisfaction with anaesthesia care), and a modified Brice questionnaire to elicit symptoms suggestive of accidental awareness during general anaesthesia (AAGA). Patient, procedural and pharmacological data were recorded to enable exploration of risk factors for these poor outcomes. RESULTS: 257 hospitals in 171 NHS Trusts participated (97% of eligible organisations). Baseline characteristics were collected on 16,222 patients; 15,040 (93%) completed postoperative questionnaires. Anxiety was most frequently cited as the worst aspect of the perioperative experience. Thirty-five per cent of patients reported severe discomfort in at least one domain: thirst (18.5%; 95% CI 17.8-19.1), surgical pain (11.0%; 10.5-11.5) and drowsiness (10.1%; 9.6-10.5) were most common. Despite this, only 5% reported dissatisfaction with any aspect of anaesthesia-related care. Regional anaesthesia was associated with a reduced burden of side-effects. The incidence of reported AAGA was one in 800 general anaesthetics (0.12%) CONCLUSIONS: Anxiety and discomfort after surgery are common; despite this, satisfaction with anaesthesia care in the UK is high. The inconsistent relationship between patient-reported outcome, patient experience and patient satisfaction supports using all three of these domains to provide a comprehensive assessment of the quality of anaesthesia care.
Subject(s)
Anesthesia , Perioperative Care/methods , Adult , Aged , Anesthesia/adverse effects , Anesthesia, Conduction , Anxiety/psychology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Intraoperative Awareness/epidemiology , Male , Middle Aged , Patient Reported Outcome Measures , Patient Satisfaction , Surveys and Questionnaires , United Kingdom/epidemiologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: 'Quality of recovery' scores are patient-reported outcome measures evaluating recovery after surgery and anaesthesia. However, they are not widely used in the clinical or research setting. The Quality of Recovery-15 (QoR-15) is a recently developed, psychometrically tested and validated questionnaire. METHODS: We conducted a prospective study of all adult patients undergoing orthopaedic day case surgery over a period of six months (June 2013-November 2013). Patients completed the QoR-15 score preoperatively, and then were asked to repeat the score by telephone at 24 h, 48 h and seven days after surgery. RESULTS: 633 patients from a possible 714 (89%) completed the preoperative questionnaire and data from 437 patients who completed scores at all four time points were analysed. Most patients returned to their preoperative score by 48 h, and had exceeded it by seven days. Construct validity was supported by a negative correlation with duration of surgery and total inpatient opioid use. There was also excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha 0.80-0.83). CONCLUSION: The QoR-15 is a clinically acceptable and feasible patient-centred outcome measure after day case surgery. The score demonstrated good validity, reliability and responsiveness. However, measurement of the QoR-15 score on the day of surgery may not provide a true baseline value. We suggest one follow-up call at 48 h would enable an adequate patient-centred assessment of postoperative recovery after day case orthopaedic surgery.
