Concerns of surgical patients in an industrial public sector medical facility

Introduction: While undergoing major surgery, in addition to the perceived risk to life and well-being, there are several other factors which are of concern to the patient. Some of them may be unexpressed leading to problems in patient care subsequently. Surgery must not only provide survival benefit and/or symptom relief, but address these concerns as well. Methods: A questionnaire based study was conducted and responses were obtained from 300 patients undergoing surgery, regarding all concern/ worries and fears and the same were scored from 0-5. The responses were grouped by age, sex, type of concern and weightage and analyzed. Observations and results: 150 male and female patients each were evaluated and 27 concerns were identified. These were grouped into concerns regarding - treatment and its quality, physical complications, psycho-social complications and economic complications. On the basis of weightage they were classified as - Extremely relevant, Major, Moderate, Minor and Trivial. The most relevant concerns were regarding physical well-being, wherein inability to perform daily activities and quality of life issues were more important than death itself. Several patients wanted second opinion regarding alternatives to surgery and to the procedure advised. Economic issues were less significant probably because all treatment was free. Body image issues and fear of loss of sexual function though important to younger patients were not a significant concern overall. Blood donation was a major concern as was relocation to a different city, for treatment. Conclusion: Understanding and addressing patient concerns help surgeons achieve better patient satisfaction and improved