The use of a computer website prior to scheduled surgery (a pilot study): impact on patient information, acquisition, anxiety level, and overall satisfaction with anesthesia care.

Scheduled surgery can often be a stressful time for patients. While anesthesia providers give a full explanation of care to the patient, research suggests that anxiety and time constraints imposed by the system may hinder the amount and quality of information provided. Use of technology to augment dissemination of information may have an impact. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of a website on: (1) preoperative patient education, (2) patient anxiety, and (3) patient satisfaction with anesthesia care. The week prior to surgery, 64 ASA class I and II subjects at a 350-bed urban university affiliated hospital completed a demographic questionnaire, State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and modified Standard Anesthesia Learning Test (mSALT), and the experimental group was given website information. On the day of surgery, all subjects completed the STAI and mSALT. Before discharge, subjects rated satisfaction. The experimental group had a significant increase in posttest mSALT scores (P = .004). Neither the experimental nor the control group had a significant change in posttest state anxiety (P = .279 and .762) or trait anxiety (P = .823 and.570). The experimental group differed significantly from the control group in satisfaction with teaching (P = .019).