Perception about anaesthesia and anaesthesiologists among non-medical graduate professionals

Abstract

Background: Despite enormous health awareness programmes being organised in different parts of the world, the pace of such programmes does not seem to match the pace of the advances in the field. Therefore, we decided to assess the adequacy of awareness and deficiencies in knowledge that are still prevalent in the population in order to focus on the areas and methods of education required.
Methods: A cross-sectional observational study among non-medical graduate professionals residing in Bangalore was conducted using a predesigned questionnaire consisting of 23 questions divided into three sections to cover the demographic details, and the assessment of knowledge about the anaesthesia, its techniques and the anaesthesiologist.
Results: A total of 91.4% of respondents was aware of the specialty; 54.3% had a source of information through self-acquired knowledge. Only 2.9% were aware of regional anaesthesia, and therefore, the majority preferred general anaesthesia. In total, 51.4% expressed a fear of not waking up due to an anaesthetic overdose. The majority (31.4%) perceived the surgeon as the doctor responsible for providing postoperative pain relief and performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
Conclusion: Lack of knowledge still exists among the general public about anaesthesiology as a speciality and the role of anaesthesiologists. There is a need for regular, ongoing educational programmes to keep up with developments in the field to avoid resurgence of misconceptions. In the present digital era, electronic media needs to be utilised effectively in eliminating the misconceptions that are still prevalent in developing countries.