Assessment of postanesthesia short-term quality of life: a pilot study

Quality of life is a major focus for researchers conducting studies on patient satisfaction and anesthetic outcomes. Efficacy and safety drive anesthesia providers' determination of the type of anesthesia administered, yet little consideration is given to postanesthesia quality of life from the patient's perspective. We hypothesized that patient-defined, postanesthesia short-term quality-of-life issues are significant factors to consider when selecting anesthesia. This study developed and piloted a tool to assess the impact of specific anesthetic techniques on postanesthesia short-term quality-of-life issues. In phase I, a panel of content experts developed a tool to measure postanesthesia short-term quality of life. In phase II, 50 same-day surgery subjects undergoing spinal or general anesthesia completed the tool on day 1 and on days 5, 6, or 7 postoperatively. The RAND 36-Item Health Survey was administered simultaneously to assess concurrent validity. Phase I resulted in a 40-item tool covering 3 domains. The Phase II pilot supported internal consistency and construct validity for the majority of tool items, although the tool did not correlate strongly with the RAND questionnaire. To confirm the dimensions used in the tool, we recommend a multicenter study permitting the application of factor analysis.