Patient satisfaction with anaesthesia care - Development, pilot testing and validation of a survey questionnaire

Patient satisfaction is the single most important “Quality of care” indicator that gives insight into effectiveness of care provided. There is a paucity of specific validated questionnaire for assessment of patient satisfaction with perioperative anaesthesia care for Indian sub-continent. We aimed to develop and validate a questionnaire for assessment of patient satisfaction with anaesthesia care. Through a review of literature, input from expert anaesthesiologists, and patient feedback, we came up with thirty-six preliminary questions, which we then categorised into six categories: Communication, Information provided, Involvement in decision-making, Anaesthesia care provided, Continuity of care, and Addressal of perioperative discomforts. All satisfaction-related responses were graded using a 5-point Likert scale. Questions were corrected to twenty-four based on inputs from six experts. The questionnaire was then translated (forward-backwards translation) to the regional language (Tamil) and subjected to pre-pilot testing. Questions were then modified, and Pilot testing was done for statistical validation. The response rate for pilot test was 70% and we received 60 responses. 93% of patients used Tamil version. We received 50% of responses on postoperative day (POD)-1 and remaining 50% on POD-2. None of our questions showed “Floor” or “Ceiling” response needing elimination. Cronbach’s alpha was estimated as 0.697. Our survey's mean score was 87.29 ± 4.65, showing that it accurately measured patient satisfaction. Ours is thefirst validated questionnaire for assessment of patient satisfaction with anaesthesia care suitable for the Indian population. The questionnaire can further be translated into the appropriate regional languages and utilized.