Anesthesia Counseling, Consent, & Professionalism

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Preoperative
Ethics
Communication

Interventions: Behavioral: Script guided conversation

Registration Number: NCT06010836

Lead Sponsor: Johns Hopkins University

Brief Summary: The anesthesia consent form has become a standard before surgery. However, verbal aspects of anesthesia consent and of the value of the preoperative anesthesia discussion has not been addressed. This study will use preoperative discussions and postoperative patient questionnaires to examine the degree of awareness that the patients and the patients families have regarding what general anesthesia is, the responsibilities of the anesthesiologist, and the specifics of what the participants are agreeing to by signing the consent form.

Detailed Description: There is a substantial body of work regarding the written anesthesia consent form. As a result, the written anesthesia consent form has become a standard requirement throughout the United States of America. However, there has been little examination of verbal aspects of anesthesia consent and of the value of the preoperative anesthesia discussion that should take place prior to surgery. Non-anesthesia medical studies have indicated that inadequate patient-physician communication and an inadequate patient-physician relationship will result in misunderstanding and an increased malpractice risk. Lack of understanding of the duties and responsibilities of anesthesiologists is also damaging to the professional status of the field of anesthesiology. This study will utilize patient interviews and questionnaires to examine the degree of awareness that the patients and the patients families possess regarding what general anesthesia is, the duties and responsibilities of the anesthesiologist, the role of the anesthesiologist within the operating room and the specifics of what the participants are agreeing to by signing the consent form. If it is determined that a more structured and thorough pre-anesthesia discussion will help patients and the patients families understand what general anesthesia is, understand the specific responsibilities of anesthesiology providers, understand the professional status of anesthesiologists, give the participants a better feeling of autonomy and better understand what the participants are agreeing to by signing the consent form, then there will be substantial ramifications to the priority and importance given to pre-anesthesia discussions nationwide. Secondary benefits include influences on anesthesia residency training and improved patient satisfaction with the anesthesia experience.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 257

Inclusion Criteria

Age 18 and up
Elective Procedures
English-speaking
Consenting for general anesthesia

Exclusion Criteria

Obstetric patients
Prisoners
Emergency cases
Patients under age 18
Patients don't speak English
Not consented for general anesthesia

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Script guided intervention	Script guided conversation	Group getting script guided intervention during the preoperative conversation

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of Participants Who Recall Anesthesia Team Members	up to 3 days after surgery	Postoperative recall of anesthesia conversation. Recall of team members score 0-100 with higher score indicating better recall of anesthesia team members.
Number of Participants Who Recall Anesthetic Risks	up to 3 days after surgery	anesthesia risks, (0) don't remember any risks - (3) remembered 3 or more correctly
Postoperative Understanding of Anesthetic Plan as Assessed by the Questionnaire Developed by the Study Team	up to 3 days after surgery	Demonstrate understanding of anesthetic plan; score total 0-100 with a higher score more understanding. Standard deviation is reported.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Number of Participants Satisfied With Anesthesia Conversation	up to three days after surgery	Number of participants satisfied with anesthetic conversation assessed by questionnaire developed by study team; using likert scale rating; extremely satisfied (5) to extremely dissatisfied (1)
Preoperative Anxiety as Assessed by Questionnaire Developed by Study Team	up to 3 days after surgery	Patients are asked about any change in anxiety after the preoperative conversation using likert scale extremely reduced (5) to extremely more anxious (1)