Factors Responsible For Pre-Operative Anxiety In Elective Surgical Patients At A University Teaching Hospital: A Pilot Study

BackgroundAnxiety is common in surgical patients during the preoperative period. High levels of preoperative anxiety have unfavorable effects on induction and maintenance of anaesthesia as well as on the recovery from anaesthesia and surgery. The incidence of preoperative anxiety for surgical patients in the Niger Delta region is not known, ObjectiveTo determine the factors responsible for preoperative anxiety in surgical patients at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, its level and how they can be minimized.MethodAll eligible adult patients admitted for elective surgical procedures within a six-month study period completed a questionnaire on the evening preceding their surgical operations. They were 125 in number. The questionnaire contained a list of items from which the patients selected the anxieties they had. The volunteers assessed the level of their anxieties using the visual analogue scale. Frequency tables were generated for causes of preoperative anxiety, gender, age, educational levels and surgical exposures of the participants. Chi square test was used where appropriate to find out significant difference between two groups. ResultsAbout 90 percent of the participants had one or more anxieties in the preoperative period. Possibility of having the surgical procedure postponed was responsible for preoperative anxiety in the highest number (87) of the volunteers while the least number (10) of them were concerned about postoperative nausea and vomiting. A higher percentage of females than males had preoperative anxiety but this was not statistically significant. Only previous surgical treatment was associated with significantly lower levels of preoperative anxiety (p<.05). ConclusionThe incidence of preoperative anxiety in our surgical population is fairly high. Fear of possible postponement of surgery was the most common anxiety found in this study. Reasons for postponement of elective surgical procedures should be studied. This and other causes of preoperative anxiety for surgical patients should be minimized. Further study of this subject with a larger sample size is suggested.