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)