Patient Satisfaction With Anesthesia Care: What Do We Know?

This evidence review aimed to conceptualize patient satisfaction with anesthesia care (PSAC), which has been linked to reimbursement, competency evaluations, and litigation; to describe factors affecting PSAC; and to develop provider recommendations to enhance PSAC. The search for systematic reviews, survey reports, qualitative studies, and consumer satisfaction reports within the last 20 years excluded pediatric and obstetric articles. The search yielded 27 quantitative, 7 qualitative, and 9 consumer satisfaction articles. High levels of PSAC are reported using a variety of methods. Studies evaluating patient perioperative experiences document that fear and anxiety with prior patient experiences have an impact on anticipatory anxiety. Patients reported desiring positive experiences and emotional connections with anesthesia providers. Modifiable dissatisfiers included anxiety, inadequate explanation of anesthesia, postoperative pain and nausea or vomiting, long surgeries or wait times, and anesthesia complications. Besides providing preoperative information with reasonable expectations (eg, for nausea and vomiting) and treating discomfort, anesthetists must engage emotionally with patients. Measures of PSAC should include the emotional component of PSAC. Future research addressing patient experiences with differing anesthesia methods would be helpful for providers trying to understand and facilitate patient coping.