Aim of the study was to evaluate the satisfaction and compliance of patients undergoing endoscopy at the Gastroenterology Clinic of the General Hospital "Konstantopoulio - Patision" regarding adherence to  instructions to avoid driving for 24 hours after sedation and the need for assistance following the procedure.

Telephone interviews were conducted 24 hours after endoscopy with outpatients who underwent diagnostic or therapeutic digestive endoscopy at our department as part of their participation in a prospective randomized study. During the interview, patients were asked about their level of satisfaction and their and compliance with instructions regarding abstaining from driving for 24 hours after sedated endoscopy and their need for assistance upon returning to daily activities.

All study participants (n=1300, 100%) completed the telephone interview. Of these, 709 (54.5%) were women with a mean age of 62.5 ± 10.3 years. The majority underwent colonoscopy (n=712, 54.8%), followed by gastroscopy (n=298, 22.9%). Additionally, 671 (51.6%) subjects underwent digestive endoscopy for the first time. Most participants complied with the given instruction to avoid driving for 24 hours after sedated endoscopy n=1129 (86.8%), while only 3/1300 (0.02%) reported needing assistance from another  person afterward). All examinees (100%) reported feeling very or very safe upon leaving the recovery area, and 99.5% stated they were very or very satisfied with the examination process.

Patient satisfaction with endoscopy in our unit is high. However, a small proportion of patients still fail to comply with the recommendation  to avoid driving for 24 hours after sedation.