Postanesthesia evaluation of emotional and psychological satisfaction in a Hispanic population.

BACKGROUND: Patient satisfaction has a positive impact on clinical care. Different strategies, such as questionnaires, have been developed to evaluate and improve patient satisfaction. A validated pediatric anesthesia questionnaire previously showed the importance of perioperative care built upon a relationship of trust between healthcare providers and children and parents, and a comfortable environment in which satisfactory answers are provided. However, the questionnaire was validated in English, and no research exists on the use of satisfaction questionnaires in Spanish. Given that there are 559 million Spanish speakers in the world, of which 53 million live in the United States, we intended to validate a Spanish version of this questionnaire to measure parental and pediatric satisfaction after anesthesia, and facilitate the provision and quality management of anesthesia care in Hispanic populations.

METHODS: A questionnaire validated in English was translated to Spanish. Subsequently, it was administered to children who had undergone surgery and their parents to determine reliability, validity, acceptability, and reproducibility.

RESULTS: Of the 228 recruited parents, a total of 221 agreed to participate, and 77 questionnaires were filled out completely by both parents and children. Overall response rates of 97% for parents and 90% for children were achieved. The reliability, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency were examined, and a McNemar coefficient of 0.97 and a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.82 were obtained. Construct validity was obtained through comparisons of the following items: the child's perception of serenity imparted by the medical staff with the parent's satisfaction with conversations between the anesthesiologist and child, the nurse's ability to make the child feel better with the parent's satisfaction with the nurse's professionalism, and the nurse's kindness toward the child with the parent's perception of the care provided.

CONCLUSION: This questionnaire proved to be simple and easy to understand within the literate Spanish-speaking population. It had adequate content validity and high reliability, acceptability, reproducibility, and construct validity. We believe that this Spanish questionnaire can be used with success among Hispanic populations resulting in improved care for those undergoing anesthesia, and therefore, patient satisfaction.