A Survey on Jazan Public Awareness about The Role of The Anesthesiologists

Background: anesthesiology has been considered as a behind the scene specialty. Most patients lack the knowledge about the anesthetist’s role and there are few who know about anesthesia, but still considered having poor knowledge. People thought that anesthetist plays a secondary role in surgery and the role assigned to the anesthesiologist remains inaccurate for most of them. Aimof the work: our study aimed to assess the society's perception in Gazan area of Saudi Arabia about anesthetist’s role and duties in surgery and their knowledge about anesthesia. Method: a total of 744 responded to the questionnaire. Out of the responders, 445 (59.8%) were males, and 299 (40.2%) were females. 432 (58%) participant considered having sufficient knowledge about anesthesia, while 312 (42%) still didn’t have sufficient knowledge about it. 514 (69%) responders admitted that anesthesia is safe, while 230 (31%) responders thought that it’s not-safe. Results: 744 participated in our study, out of which 445 (59.8%) were males and 299 (40.2%) were the participated females. 432 (58.1%) of the sample study had sufficient knowledge about anesthesia, while 312 (41.9%) didn’t having sufficient data. Our study also showed a correlation between the education level and the knowledge about anesthesia and anesthetists. Conclusion: our study revealed the poor knowledge of Gazan inhabitants about anesthesia, anesthetists and pre-operative care. The poor knowledge may be due to the limited interaction between the anesthetist and the patient, thus the anesthetist has the duty to visit the patient before surgery.