[Current state of patient knowledge regarding the preoperative impact and causes of anemia]

Despite being treatable, the prevalence of anemia is relatively high, affecting up to 30% of the general population and 35% of patients undergoing surgery. Symptoms are often misinterpreted and patients frequently do not recognize anemia as a disease. As a result, it is often not discussed during medical consultations. Additionally, the limited time between diagnosis and surgery makes preoperative anemia management challenging.

The aim of the present study was to assess the state of knowledge about anemia and to identify areas of deficits to develop a strategy for future improvement.

Patients undergoing surgery with a transfusion probability of > 10% were interviewed at the department for anesthesiology, intensive care medicine and pain therapy of the University Hospital Frankfurt in May and October 2023.

A total of 196 completed questionnaires were evaluated. Most correct answers were given in the category "treatment of anemia" with 54.3% (n = 426/784), followed by 50.1% (n = 393/784) correct answers in the category "diagnosis of anemia", 48.8% (n = 478/980) in the category "perioperative influence of anemia" and 44.6% (n = 350/784) correct answers in the category "influence of nutrition". The patients showed the greatest knowledge deficits in the category "symptoms of anemia" with 38.1% (n = 598/1568) correct answers and "causes of anemia" with 36.1% (n = 354/980). Only 3% (n = 5/196) of the participants rated their knowledge as "good", 16% (n = 31/196) as "fairly good", 48% (n = 94/196) as "fairly poor" and 29% (n = 56/196) as "poor". There is a weak to medium positive linear correlation between the self-assessment and the correct answers given (correlation coefficient 0.44). Approximately 70% of participants had a higher level of education, such as vocational training, a university degree or a high school diploma. There was no correlation between the number of correct answers given and the participants' level of education. The majority of the patients (71.4%; n = 140/195) expressed interest in learning more about anemia.

We identified a significant knowledge deficit, particularly regarding the causes and symptoms of anemia. It is likely that knowledge gaps persist and that anemia does not receive sufficient attention in everyday clinical practice. Educating and training patients about anemia is essential to further reduce its prevalence.