Patients perception about anesthesiologist’s before and after surgical procedure in rural setup

Context and Objective: Patients exposure to Anesthesiologist occure preoperatively and intraoperatively. This is the only opportunity to anesthesiologist to provide the correct information about anesthesia procedures and their work.The aim of this study is to evaluate patients view about anesthesiologist before anesthesia and to identify whether the anesthetic care would change such perceptions Design and Setting: Prospective cross-sectional study during 2013-2014 at Acharya vinoba Bhave Rural Hospital of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Sawangi Meghe,Wardha. Methods: 518 patients of age 16 years and above were interviewed before and after anesthesia exposure. A questionnaire was used to determine patient characteristics and perception of anesthesia/anesthesiologists. Results: The patients were 16-89 years of age and 59.80% had attended elementary school.79.1% said that the anesthesiologiste were specialized physicians. Anesthesiologists’ roles were associated with loss of consciousness(35.5% preanesthesia; 43.5% post-anesthesia),pain relief(29.7% preanesthesia,31.7% post-anesthesia),vital sign monitoring (17.6% preanesthesia,35% post anesthesia; p<0.05);and drug administration(10.8% preanesthesia,43.9% postanesthesia;p<0.05). The care provided by anesthesiologists was classified as: elucidating (52.8%),encouraging (52.6%),neutral (10.2%) and careless (0.8%). Conclusion: Patients perceptions of anesthesiologists’ role were fairly good, but improvements in this relationship still need to be pursued, to achieve better outcomes. Anesthetic care was important in providing information, confidence and reassurance among patients, regarding their perceptions. Anesthesiologists should not miss opportunities to provide excellent professional care for patients, thereby improving anesthesia outcomes and their image.