Anxiety and surgery

Pain

SURGERY

Anesthesia

Hospitalization

Death

E.C.J. Carr et al. / International Journal of Nursing Studies 42 (2005) 521530

 The prospect of surgery is an extremely

stressful event.
Acute pain is inextricably linked with anxiety
and depression.
Patients who were anxious had significantly
higher pain scores than less anxious patients
and changes in anxiety were significantly
related to changes in pain

Dimension on surgery

Physical dimension
Emotional dimension
Cognitive
Social and family
Professional

 Pre-operative anxiety and depression scores

predicted post-operative experience
patients expectations about their pain, and
concerns about its continuation or effect on
their lives contributed to the degree of anxiety
Long waiting times between the onset of
symptoms and being referred to a specialist
may mean that they have to cope with
difficult physical symptoms

 Anxiety symptoms in the postoperative period

were associated with AF, to cognitive-affective
and somatic anxiety symptoms
Post operative autonomic arousal symptoms
were associated with AF

heart & lung 4 0 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 4-11

 significant drop in anxiety from the pre- to the

postoperative period
Female patients had higher pre operation
anxiety than males.
Females and males did not differ in anxiety at
the post operation period
Hospitalization and surgery are very important
negative life events that lead to the
experience of considerable anxiety in patients

 This anxiety is related to

being ill, the
threat posed by potential surgery and the
potential negative aftereffects of surgery,
the role obligations of hospitalization such as
being in a strange environment,
having unfamiliar roommates,
and the necessity to comply with medical procedures
and
numerous diagnostic tests

 High preoperative anxiety leads to physical

problems like
dizziness,
nausea, and
Headaches

Patients with high postoperative anxiety have

longer hospitalization periods and report
more postoperative pain

 Certain sociodemographic characteristics,

such as :
age, gender, marital status, and education have
been noted to be related to anxiety experienced
by patients.
Women, young people, people with low education
levels, and single individuals have been found to
be more vulnerable to anxiety in the pre- and
postoperative period

 Emotion focused coping may be more suitable

for reducing pre- and postoperative anxiety
than problem focused coping for patients
patients who perceive a high amount of social
support will experience lesser anxiety as
compared to those with a low perception of
social support

 A.N. Karanci, G. Dirik / Journal of Psychosomatic Research 55 (2003) 363

369

 Giving knowledge about surgery and its

favorable consequences may be effective in
reducing their worries.
Coping strategies seem to be related to both
pre- and postoperative anxiety, although they
seem to be more important for postsurgery
anxiety.

 Active coping is related to postoperative

anxiety, whereas
helplessness and
self-blaming anxiety are related to preoperative
surgery specific anxiety

 Fear, anxiety, uncertainty, loss of control, and

decrease of self esteem are emotional
problems likely to be experienced by patients
when confronted with the need for surgery
and admission into hospital

 both patients and their families had

familiarities in terms of anxiety and
information needs that are more information
about the procedure before the operation,
operation date, the success and duration of
the operation, likely occurrences after the
operation such as tubes, drainage, and
catheter, life style changes after the operation,
and the effects of waiting for the operation on
the patients and their families

 stress and anxiety can have a detrimental

effect on recovery after surgery and that
effective preoperative information reduces
stress, anxiety and pain levels
anxiety and stress were caused by fear, lack of
knowledge about a situation, or not knowing
how one will cope with it, makes one unable
to control events or anticipate occurrence

K. Asilioglu, S.S. Celik / Patient Education and Counseling 53 (2004) 6570

 Admission to hospital and the prospect of

surgery is accepted as extremely anxietyprovoking resulting in behavioral and cognitive
sequele which can have far reaching effects on
recovery

 At most surgical facilities, there is a waiting

room for patients friends and family.
Often there is a nurse, social worker,
physician, or volunteer present to assist
families with their needs and to communicate
the patients perioperative progress

 surgical facilities provide information to family

members while relatives are undergoing
surgery
to provide family members with more
accurate estimates of the time remaining may
help relieve anxiety

Dexter et al . J. Clin. Anesth., vol. 13, November 2001