Patients' knowledge of anesthetic practice and the role of anesthetists during COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract Introduction: Anesthesiologists play a vital role in perioperative and critical care medicine. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of patients’ knowledge about the in-hospital role of anesthetists, anesthesia techniques and awareness during surgery.Methods: A survey composed of 13 close-ended questions (3 about demographic information and 10 anesthesia related), was submitted to 1400 patients during the pre-anesthesia visit between 10/01/2021 and 31/05/2021.Results: We included in the analysis 1400 questionnaires. The role of anesthesiologists in the perioperative management was known by 1267 (90.5%) patients and the role of surgeons by 1143 (81.7%) patients. Knowledge on the anesthesiologist was obtained from personal or relatives’ previous experiences (56.3%) or their family doctors (26.9%). Patients believed that anesthesiologists put people asleep while monitoring vital functions (44.1%) and authorize surgery (31.4%). Patients had fears of general (42.5%) and spinal/epidural (36.8%) anesthesia, more frequently related to death during anesthesia (34.6%) or to intra-operative pain (25.2%). Conclusion: During COVID-19 pandemic, patients had knowledge about the role of anesthetists and anesthetic practice. However, information should be improved by supplying more educational material before the surgical procedure.