Materials and Methods
This is an observational study and the study is designed based on The
Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology
(SROBE) statement. Patients who underwent drainless outpatient
parotidectomy performed by three experienced surgeons at the Department
of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Ninewells Hospital, Dundee,
UK from March 2018 to October 2020 were identified. Patients satisfied
the outpatient parotidectomy criteria if they were discharged on the
same day or within 23 hours of surgery with an overnight stay. These
patients were reviewed at the outpatient clinic 4 weeks post-operatively
for any complications.
These patients were also invited to respond to the Core questionnaire
for the assessment of Patient Satisfaction’ (COPS) for general Day care
(COPS-D) questionnaire adapted for parotidectomy in the post-operative
period (Appendix 1). The questionnaire has been validated and shown to
be a reliable and valid tool for measuring satisfaction with day care
surgery (15). The questionnaire was sent by post and the results of the
questionnaire were collated anonymously. Patient satisfaction on
different aspects of their outpatient parotidectomy journey (e.g.
pre-admission, admission on ward, in-theatre experience, nursing care,
medical care, information, autonomy, discharge and after care) were
scored using a 5 point Likert scale. Score of 1 is classified as very
dissatisfied, score 2=dissatisfied, score 3=neutral, score 4= satisfied
and score 5= very satisfied. Questions on overall patient satisfaction
on outpatient parotidectomy were assessed using a yes or no approach
(e.g. would you have preferred to stay overnight) (Appendix 1). Pain
score at the time of discharge and overall satisfaction with day case
parotid surgery were also measured using a scale of 0-10 on the Likert
scale (Appendix 1)