Aanesthetic Agents for Day Surgery - NIHR Health Technology ...

Background
The empirical study quantified the relative costs,
patient benefits and acceptability of alternative
anaesthetic agents and related techniques. The
main focus of the study was to explore the patients’
perspective of anaesthetics for day surgery. For this
reason a study was designed to explore the views,
experiences and preferences of patients
undergoing day surgery.
Method
The views and experiences of patients undergoing
day surgery were explored during telephone
interviews conducted around day 7 postdischarge.
Parents or guardians of children undergoing day
surgery were asked the following questions in the
structured telephone interview:
• Did your son/daughter experience any
discomfort from the injection or mask used
to send them sleep?
• Has your son/daughter had an operation
before this one and if so what?
• What similarities or differences did you notice
between the anaesthetic your son/daughter
received in this study and ones they have had
in the past?
• Did you feel ready to take your son/daughter
home from hospital when you did?
• Were you satisfied with the care your son/
daughter received (a) on the ward before the
operation, (b) in the recovery area immediately
after the operation, (c) on the ward after
the operation?
The following open questions were asked in the
structured telephone interview with adult patients:
• Did you have an injection or a mask to send you
to sleep for your operation?
• Did you experience any discomfort from the
injection or mask used to send you to sleep?
• Have you had an operation before this one and
if so what?
© Queen’s Printer and Controller of HMSO 2002. All rights reserved.
Appendix 16
Health Technology Assessment 2002; Vol. 6: No. 30
Patients’ views, experiences and preferences
for day-case anaesthesia
• What similarities or differences did you
notice between the anaesthetic you received
in this study and ones you have had in
the past?
• Did you feel ready to go home from hospital
when you did?
• Were you satisfied with the care you received (a)
on the ward before the operation, (b) in the
recovery area immediately after the operation,
(c) on the ward after the operation?
These telephone interviews were also used to
explore the direction and strength of preference
(willingness to pay) for induction and maintenance
anaesthetics (see chapter 4). Descriptive scenarios
of the process and outcome of anaesthesia were
developed for both adult and paediatric patient
groups (see chapter 4). Respondents were
provided with two scenarios:
• Scenario 1: valuation of intravenous
(medicine A) versus inhalational (medicine B)
induction (see appendix 14).
• Scenario 2: valuation of intravenous
(medicine D) versus inhalational (medicine C)
maintenance (see appendix 15).
Two questions were asked to explore the understanding
of the exercise, and thus the validity of
the valuation given. First, respondents were asked
why they selected their preferred anaesthetic
for each scenario. Second, respondents were
asked about the reasoning behind their stated
willingness-to-pay value for each scenario.
All responses to these questions were recorded
verbatim as closely as possible, but in some
instances respondents’ answers were paraphrased.
A thematic framework approach was used to
analyse the responses to the open questions. 241
The responses were read thoroughly to identify
the emerging themes. A theme was identified by
grouping together statements with a common
property. The main themes that emerged were
listed under headings. Individual statements were
then re-read and coded according to the theme
headings identified. The codes were used to group
the themes and quantify the number of times each
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