Knowledge and Attitude of Surgical Patients towards Anesthesia and Anesthetists: Institutional Based Cross-sectional Study

Background: Anesthesia was misconceived as a behind the screen specialty. Despite considerable developments in its scope, anesthesia maintains with a poor public image, clients are not even aware of an anesthetist as a medically qualified health practitioner, particularly in undeveloped nations. Objective: To assess knowledge and attitude of surgical patients toward anesthesia and anesthetist in WCSH from March 1 to 30, 2025 GC Method: Institution-based, cross-sectional study was conducted from March 1 to 30, 2025 GC in Werabe comprehensive specialized hospital. Data was collected through interviews using a structured digital questionnaire to gather relevant information and Descriptive statistic and Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to explain the study participants with study variables and to identify the association between the level of knowledge and independent variables. Result: Of the 151 respondents, 79 people (52.3%) claimed that they knew about the concept of anesthesia. Among them, 86% referred to anesthesia as "putting patients asleep." Almost all (92.1%) the participants were aware of the fact that anesthesia is mandatory for surgeries. On the other hand, less than half (39.7%) of the respondents knew who decides whether a patient is fit for anesthesia or not. Conclusion: The perception of most patients is that anesthesia is all about ‘putting patients to sleep. There was poor knowledge of patients regarding the role of anesthetists beyond the confines of the operating theatre. Keywords: Knowledge and Attitude, Elective Surgery, Anesthesia, Anesthetist, Ethiopia.