The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) has many recommendations for questions to ask in assessing anesthesia patient satisfaction. First, it provides the following list of Surgery-CAHPS questions that are relevant to anesthesia:
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Q17: Were you given something so you would not feel pain during surgery? (y/n)
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Q18. Who gave you something so you would not feel pain during your surgery? An anesthesiologist did this? The surgeon did this? Don’t Know?
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Q19. Did this anesthesiologist encourage you to ask questions? Yes, definitely? Yes, somewhat? No?
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Q20. Did you ask this anesthesiologist any questions? (y/n)
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Q21. Did this anesthesiologist answer your questions clearly? Yes, definitely? Yes, somewhat? No?
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Q22. After you arrived at the hospital or surgical facility, did this anesthesiologist visit you before your surgery? (y/n)
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Q23. Did talking with this anesthesiologist during this visit make you feel more calm and relaxed? Yes, definitely? Yes, somewhat? No?
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Q24. Using any number from 0 to 10, where 0 is the worst anesthesiologist possible and 10 is the best anesthesiologist possible, what number would you used to rate this anesthesiologist?
In addition, a 2014 ASA white paper suggested 25 questions that hospitals can use to help assess patient satisfaction with anesthesia. To illustrate the type of questions the ASA recommends, here are the first 12:
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Q1. During the visit with the anesthesia practitioner before the surgery, I was able to ask the questions I wanted (disagree very much, disagree moderately, disagree slightly, agree slightly, agree moderately, agree very much)
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Q2. The information given to me by the anesthesia practitioners was understandable (disagree very much, disagree moderately, disagree slightly, agree slightly, agree moderately, agree very much)
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Q3. How satisfied were you with treatment of nausea and vomiting after the operation? (Very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, slightly dissatisfied, slightly satisfied, satisfied, very satisfied)
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Q4. How satisfied were you with pain therapy after surgery? (Very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, slightly dissatisfied, slightly satisfied, satisfied, very satisfied)
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Q5. I was satisfied with my anesthetic care (disagree very much, disagree moderately, disagree slightly, agree slightly, agree moderately, agree very much)
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Q6. I would recommend the anesthesia team to others in my family. (disagree very much, disagree moderately, disagree slightly, agree slightly, agree moderately, agree very much)
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Q7. To what degree did you have confidence in your anesthesia practitioners? (Very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, slightly dissatisfied, slightly satisfied, satisfied, very satisfied)
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Q8. To what degree was the anesthesia team willing to listen to your questions? (Very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, slightly dissatisfied, slightly satisfied, satisfied, very satisfied)
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Q9. Based on this experience, I have a good understanding of the role the anesthesiologist played in my surgery? (Disagree very much, disagree moderately, disagree slightly, agree slightly, agree moderately, agree very much)
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Q10. How would you rate the quality of care by the anesthesia practitioners? (Very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, slightly dissatisfied, slightly satisfied, satisfied, very satisfied)
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Q11. During the visit with the anesthesia team before the surgery I was able to ask the questions I wanted. (disagree very much, disagree moderately, disagree slightly, agree slightly, agree moderately, agree very much)
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Q12. To what degree were you satisfied with the amount of information given from the anesthesia practitioners? (Very dissatisfied, dissatisfied, slightly dissatisfied, slightly satisfied, satisfied, very satisfied)
The white paper and the rest of the questions are available online at http://bit.ly/292VONY.
