Preoperative anxiety in surgical patients

ABSTRACT

The level of preoperative anxiety of 50 surgical patients was compared with that of another 50 patients who received an emotionally supportive preoperative visit by an anesthetist. Anxiety was measured using Taylor scale for manifest anxiety. It was found that the level of preoperative anxiety was significantly lower among those who received the anesthetic visit. It also appeared that both sexes and all age groups were equally affected by preoperative anxiety, and all benefited from the anesthetic visit. The proportion of patients suffering from preoperative sleep disturbance, and that of patients reporting unbearable postoperative anxiety levels. The study also indicated that only a small proportion of males admitted being anxious preoperatively