Preoperative evaluation: screening using a questionnaire.

Area of Science:

• Anesthesiology
• Medical Informatics
• Patient Assessment

Background:

• Preoperative evaluation is crucial for assessing patient clinical condition before elective surgery.
• Standard preanesthetic evaluations by anesthesiologists are time-intensive.
• Optimizing preoperative patient assessment is essential for surgical safety and efficiency.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of a preoperative evaluation questionnaire with traditional anesthesiologist-led preanesthetic evaluations.
• To determine if a questionnaire can identify patients suitable for surgery without a face-to-face consultation.
• To assess if the questionnaire captures information missed during in-person evaluations and vice versa.

Main Methods:

• Patients completed a detailed questionnaire covering demographics, medical history, medications, social history, and functional capacity.
• Anesthesiologists performed standard preanesthetic evaluations independently, without access to questionnaire data.
• Questionnaire data were compared to anesthesiologist findings by independent investigators to assess effectiveness and information capture.

Main Results:

• The questionnaire alone was effective for screening 67.93% of patients, indicating no need for a face-to-face consultation.
• Questionnaire data supplemented the anesthesiologist's assessment in 51.4% of cases.
• Factors like age >65, BMI >30, low functional capacity, and comorbidities were significantly associated with non-referral to surgery.

Conclusions:

• The preoperative evaluation questionnaire serves as an effective tool for screening patients prior to elective surgery.
• The questionnaire successfully identifies patients requiring further evaluation or treatment adjustments.
• The study highlights the questionnaire's ability to gather data not always obtained during standard clinical evaluations.