Swedish Web Version of the Quality of Recovery Scale Adapted for Patients Undergoing Local Anesthesia and Peripheral Nerve Blockade (SwQoR-LA): Prospective Psychometric Evaluation Study

Abstract

Background The frequency and timing of assessing patient symptoms and discomfort during postoperative recovery are goals. Therefore, real-time recovery evaluation has been suggested to identify specific deficits in patient recovery. Objective This study aimed to psychometrically evaluate the Swedish Web Version of the Quality of Recovery (SwQoR) Scale adapted for patients undergoing local and peripheral nerve block (SwQoR-LA). Methods This was a secondary analysis of a psychometric evaluation of 107 patients aged ≥18 years undergoing day surgery under local or peripheral nerve block anesthesia at 4 different day surgery departments in Sweden. The SwQoR-LA, available through a mobile app called Recovery Assessment by Phone Points (RAPP), was completed daily on postoperative days 1-7. Results Some evidence of construct validity was supported, and discriminant validity was found in 7 of 8 items related to general anesthesia. The internal consistency was acceptable (.87-.89), and the split-half reliability was 0.80-0.86. Cohen d effect size was 0.98, and the percentage of change from baseline was 43.4%. No floor nor ceiling effects were found. Conclusions The SwQoR-LA is valid, reliable, responsive, and clinically feasible for digital real-time recovery assessment of patient recovery to identify specific deficits in patient recovery and detect those patients who might benefit from a timely intervention. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02492191; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02492191 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) RR2-10.1136/bmjopen-2015-009901