Preoperative anxiety in neurosurgical patients

Anxiety is common in surgical patients, with an incidence of 60% to 92%. There is little information on the incidence and severity of preoperative anxiety in patients scheduled for neurosurgery. The aim of this study was to measure the level of preoperative anxiety in neurosurgical patients and to assess any influencing factors. After the Institutional Review Board approval and informed written consent, 100 patients booked for neurosurgery were interviewed preoperatively. Each patient was asked to grade their preoperative anxiety level on a verbal analog scale, Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale, and a set of specific anxiety-related questions. The anxiety scores and the responses to the questions were compared between the sex, age, weight, diagnosis, and history of previous surgery. The mean age (+/-SD) was 50+/-13 years. The preoperative diagnosis was tumor (n=64), aneurysm (n=14), and other (n=22). Overall verbal analog scale was 5.2+/-2.7; the score was higher for female (5.8+/-2.8) than male patients (4.6+/-2.5) (P<0.05). Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale anxiety and knowledge scores were greater for surgery than for anesthesia. Questionnaire results showed that the most common anxieties were waiting for surgery, physical/mental harm, and results of the operation. In conclusion, our study showed that neurosurgical patients have high levels of anxiety, with a higher incidence in females. There was a moderately high need for information, particularly in patients with a high level of preoperative anxiety.