Objective: We aimed to 1) evaluate patient and Thai people knowledge about the roles of anesthesiologists, 2) examine factors associated with the lack of knowledge regarding the roles of anesthesiologists, and 3) evaluate patient concerns regarding their personal anesthesia and surgical experiences.
Material and Method: Between January 2015 and June 2016, we conducted a public survey interview and also interviewed admitted surgical patients during their post-operative period using the same questionnaire. The survey assessed knowledge of the roles of an anesthesiologist, and fears related to anesthesia and surgery.
Results: A total of 263 surgical patients and 607 Thai people of the general public were interviewed. Only 151 (57.4%) patients and 241 (39.7%) individuals were able to define the anesthesiologist’s roles. From multivariate logistic regression analysis, factors associated with the lack of knowledge about the anesthesiologist’s roles were 1) respondents from the north eastern region of Thailand (OR 1.96, 95% CI 1.21 to 3.17, p<0.01), 2) lower education level than a master degree; primary school (OR 27.92, 95% CI 10.65 to 73.16, p<0.01), high school (OR 10.25, 95% CI 4.02 to 26.18, p<0.01), vocational education (OR 7.61, 95% CI 2.55 to 22.75, p<0.01) and bachelor degree (OR 7.61, 95% CI 2.55 to 22.75, p<0.01), 3) having a career not related to healthcare (OR 16.03, 95% CI 6.18 to 41.57, p<0.01), 4) prior anesthesia experience (OR 2.20, 95% CI 1.55 to 3.12, p<0.01), and 5) Thai people (OR 2.87, 95% CI 1.94 to 4.24, p<0.01). There was no association between the lack of knowledge about the roles of anesthesiologists and total patient’s concern score.
Conclusion: Many Thai people, including surgical patients with past anesthesia experience, still have limited knowledge regarding the roles of anesthesiologists.

Keywords: Anesthesiologist’s role, Patients, Thai people, Factors, Concerns and fears of anesthesia