A survey investigating the attitudes and behaviours of anesthesiologists in anesthesia care applications outside the operating rooms

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the attitudes and behaviors of anesthesiologists in "non-operating room anesthesia? applications, which can be described as anesthesia applications performed outside the operating room, and their reflection on practice all over Turkey. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Our study was conducted between November 5, 2012 and January 7, 2013 with the approval of Research Ethics Board of Dokuz Eylul University for Non-Interventional Studies. Survey data was obtained through distributing printed questionnaires to be completed either by hand and or via the web. The questionnaire consisted of 38 questions; 5 questions for demographic data in Chapter A, 2 questions for institutional data in chapter B, and 31 questions for non-operating room anesthesia care data in chapter C. The data obtained were analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program using analysis of variance (ANOVA), post hoc (Bonferroni) test, and Independent Samples Test, and the differences between distributions were investigated with the chi-square test methods, and p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant for the difference between groups. RESULTS: A total of 500 different anesthesiologists working in Turkey replied our survey throughout the study. Among anesthesiologists, 56% reported that there were other sections that can implement sedation other than Anesthesiology department in their institutions. Only for the anesthesiologists who provided anesthesia care for ASA I patients, it was determined that the average age and the average number of total professional years both as a medical doctor and as an anesthesiologist were found to be statistically significantly higher (p <0.05). Based on the use of hypnotic agent, midazolam, which is commonly reported by anesthesiologists to be preferred for sedoanalgesia in adult patients, age, total professional years as a medical doctor and as a specialist displayed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05). In our study, the most frequent complications that can be experienced by anesthesiologist during anesthesia outside the operating room were 70.8% desaturation, followed by 11.4% nausea and vomiting and 10.5% hypotension. Furthermore, 8.9% of the participating anesthesiologists reported that they have encountered with complications resulting in mortality. In comparison of the mortality rates occured during anesthesia applications outside the operating room with the institutions of the anesthesiologists, a statistically significant difference was determined (p = 0.005). CONCLUSION: In this survey research, we obtained demographic data, institutional data, and data regarding non-operating room anesthesia applications from a total of 500 anesthesiologists working in 59 different cities throughout Turkey. DISCUSSION: In the literature review, a variety of studies conducted on various non-operating room anesthesia applications of anesthesiologists in Turkey and worldwide are available; however, any study examining as a whole the attitudes and behaviors of anesthesiologists concerning non-operating room anesthesia applications could not be found. This present study is a single comprehensive survey reseach covering the demographic data, the institutional data, and data related to anesthesia care applications outside the operating room regarding the anesthesiologists in Turkey. Key Words: Anesthesiologists, non-operating room anesthesia applications, Survey