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A postoperative questionnaire was used in 185 patients undergoing a wide range of surgical procedures to assess their personal attitudes and experiences of anesththesia in Siriraj teaching hospital during a two-week period. Even though nearly 90 percent were satisfied with their anesthetics received,up to 85 percent neither expected nor had any idea about their anesthesia before operation. Twenty-two and 14 percent expected their anesthesia to be without complications and with minor complications respectively. Neverthless almost half of the patients who had previous anesthesia thought that their anesthesia at this time was better than the previous ones.
Only 43 percent recognized that the anesthetist was a doctor,compared with 90 percent who knew that the surgeon was. Prior to operation 46 percent required preanesthetic visit but 33 percent seemed not to recognized the advantage of preanesthetic visit and 20 percent denied the visit. Nevertheless at the postoperative period,the was 20 percent increasing in percentages of the patients requiring preanesthetic visit and 93 percent appreciated its benefits. Fifty-five percent were aware that preanesthetic visit would alleviate the anesthetic fear and apprehension. It was surprising that 58 percent of the patients had premedication by anesthetists but only 23 percent realized that they had preanesthetic visit. This will reflect the anesthetist-patient relationship and the reason of widespread underestimation of the anesthetists' status.