Knowledge and vews of common citizens regarding ambulatory surgery: a pilot international survey

• Autor(a) principal: Lemos, Paulo
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Rodrigues, Inês V., Nogueira, Daniela R., Medeiros, Inês F., Pinto, Nuno R., Gothen, Margarida C., Salgado, Beatriz D., Poças, João C., Miguel, Isabel R., Santos, Carolina I., Carvalho, Helena M., Morais, Ana S., Oliveira, Maria J., Nunes, Catarina S.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/12842
• topic: Day surgery; Ambulatory surgery; Population groups; Public ppinion; Patient satisfaction

Background and Aims: Ambulatory surgery (AS) has increased rapidly in most countries since the 1990’s. There is an increasing effort by national healthcare systems to disseminate clinical information about this type of surgical environment to their populations. We conducted a public survey to understand what citizens think about AS and its organization in countries across the world. Methods: This prospective observational study used a survey presented on a tablet computer. Subjects were asked about their surgical experience and those submitted to AS were asked about their satisfaction rate. Subjects were also asked if they associate AS to a surgical programme and the level of information obtained from their National Health Services. Results: 400 citizens from 47 different countries were divided in six geographical areas, European (n=4, North, Central, East and South) and non-European (n=2, Developed and Non-Developed Countries / Emergent Economies). 51.0% reported they had heard of AS, and 29.3% had undergone an AS procedure. Those who had undergone AS, reported a high level of satisfaction with the procedure, with no differences in geographical areas (P=0.229). 90.5% would recommend AS to relatives and friends. Nevertheless, those interviewed wished to have more information related to AS from their National Health Authorities (NHA). This was significant in East, South-European, and Non-Developed NonEuropean countries (P<0.001). Conclusion: The majority of the citizens relates AS as a surgical programme. Although more than 90% of all interviewed would recommend this surgical setting, all agree that more information related to AS should be available from their NHA.