Der Anaesthesist
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Multicenter Study
[Current level of patients' knowledge of anaesthesiology].
The anaesthesiologist's competence in anaesthesia, intensive care medicine, pain therapy and emergency medicine is accepted throughout the medical society. Nevertheless, during the last decades patient surveys demonstrated a considerable lack of information of the responsibility of our work. By continuous education and information anaesthesiologists have aimed to improve the information and decision-making process for the patient. ⋯ In the case of emergency medicine (10%) the in-hospital and out-of-hospital responsibilities were not clear among patients. We conclude that the continuous distribution of information in recent years has contributed to improving patients' knowledge on interdisciplinary responsibilities. Future efforts should focus on the gaps in patient's knowledge to allow the patient to ask the right questions necessary for decision-making.