Quality in anesthesia.

Quality of recovery after anesthesia and surgery is an important dimension of the patient's experience and may be related to the quality of anesthesia care. Quality of recovery is also related to patient satisfaction. We have developed and validated a quality of recovery (QoR) score. Adult patients undergoing elective and emergency surgery in a university teaching hospital are interviewed after surgery in order to identify adverse events, rate their level of pain and satisfaction, and measure their QoR Score. We have collected data on more than 10,000 patients. Patients recovering from day surgery have higher QoR Scores than those recovering from minor surgery, and both have higher scores than those recovering from major surgery. Patients with pre-existing illness or those who develop postoperative complications have lower QoR Scores. Patient satisfaction is associated with higher QoR Scores. The measurement of quality of recovery is an important aspect of a quality anaesthetic practice. The QoR Score can be incorporated into routine practice and this should improve patient care and resultant levels of satisfaction.