1.Attitude of Patients towards Anaesthesia: Comparing the Use of a Single Consent for Anaesthesia versus the Combined Surgical and Anaesthetic Consent
Niew YL ; Magdalene Chee MX ; Juanita J ; Nurul Ezzati AK ; Mohd Sharol AW ; Azarinah I ; Choy YC
Journal of Surgical Academia 2014;4(2):9-13
Anaesthesiology is a specialty which is less well known and the public usually have little knowledge regarding
anaesthesia and the roles of Anaesthesiologist. Many hospitals now use a single dedicated consent for anaesthesia.
This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of a single consent for anaesthesia with the combined
surgical and anaesthetic consent. A total of 109 patients, scheduled for elective surgery requiring anaesthesia were
interviewed with a standardised questionnaire. Patients were divided into two groups, where one group used a single
anaesthetic consent while the other used a combined surgical and anaesthetic consent. A single consent for
anaesthesia was found to be more effective than the current combined surgical and anaesthetic consent (p<0.05).
Regarding information about anaesthesia, 89.91% respondents agreed that the Anaesthesiologist should tell them all
material risks of anaesthesia, no matter how serious it is and 81.65% respondents would like to meet
Anaesthesiologist every time prior to the operation. In terms of knowledge, 94.5% patients recognized that
Anaesthesiologist is the one who delivers anaesthesia during surgery. However, patients had little knowledge
regarding the extended roles of Anaesthesiologist. The present study confirmed that a single consent for anaesthesia
was better than the current combined surgical and anaesthetic consent.