Background: Pre-operative hypertension which is a common cause for cancellation of scheduled surgery is not merely a medical consideration. Understanding the patients' and their families' attitudes towards this issue may help develop an efficient system of qualitative management and promote the utilization of medical resources in a hospital.
Methods: Questionnaire of the study regarding the attitudes towards pre-operative hypertension and cancellation of scheduled surgery was answered through interviews by the patients and families admitted in a rural hospital in early 2003.
Results: A total of 189 people were interviewed. Over 42% of interviewees said that cancellation of scheduled surgery in hypertensive patients was acceptable. Nearly 43% felt that such a cancellation did not cause any loss to patient. However, less than 12% of respondents could accept the occurrence of a post-operative cardiovascular complication as a reasonable event even though most of them acknowledged that a hypertensive patient was not a good risk for surgery. If any loss or complication occurred, more than half of them thought that it was the surgeon's fault.
Conclusions: Most patients and families in this rural area accept case cancellation rather than tempt the suffering of a post-operative cardiovascular complication. Developing a standard guideline for postponement of anesthesia and surgery in hypertensive patients may help reduce the variability in practising and management, with resultant increase of operating suite efficiency.