A comparison of face-to-face, brochure- and video-assisted anesthesia interviews: a qualitative randomized survey study

BACKGROUND: Previous studies showed mixed results for patient satisfaction by supplementing the preanesthetic assessment with written or audio-visual materials. We hypothesize that an audio-visual aid or a brochure in addition to face-to-face interview, leads to improved patient satisfaction and shortens the preanesthetic assessment duration. METHODS: We randomly assigned 1051 patients scheduled for preanesthetic assessment to three different groups: face-to-face preanesthetic interview alone (Group 1), videos before the interview (Group 2), and brochure before the interview (Group 3). All patients were asked to complete a postinterview questionnaire assessing patient satisfaction, knowledge gain, prior experience with anesthesia, and quality of supplementary media. RESULTS: =0.04) was associated with the explanation of different anesthetic techniques by the provider. No differences of response quality between the anesthesiologists was found (F<inf>(13, 1014)</inf> = 1.494, P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Additional information imparted in the form of an educational brochure or videos immediately before the preanesthetic assessment and interview does not lead to higher patient satisfaction.