[Effectiveness of pre-operative education in reducing anxiety in surgical patients]

To evaluate the effectiveness of a structured pre-operative interview conducted by operating room nurses in order to reduce the pre-operative anxiety of patients, and to determine the profile of patients who can benefit from it.

A randomised double-blind and prospective trial was conducted on a sample of 335 patients scheduled for surgery in two regional hospitals in the Basque Region of Spain, Alto Deba Hospital and Mendaro Hospital. We compared the alternative of using a structured briefing (test group) with the current situation without any formal intervention (control group). The effectiveness of the procedure was determined using the STAI state anxiety self-assessment questionnaire. The Chi-squared statistic was used to assess the differences in factors and the Student t-test for comparison of means in the continuous variables.

The impact of the intervention on measures of state anxiety and trait anxiety was found to be not statistically significant, although the mean state anxiety state was slightly lower in the intervention group (18.96) than in the controls (20.03). Women undergoing surgery in the specialty of gynaecology showed the higher state anxiety compared with other specialties. As regards trait anxiety a higher ASA level is associated with higher anxiety. Furthermore, the consumption of psychotropic drugs is also related to a higher level of trait anxiety.

The preoperative visit can be helpful when patients are selected according to specific characteristics: by type of anaesthesia, gender, or type of surgery. There may also be beneficial effects when preoperative education is tailored according to patient's anxiety risk. The time immediately before surgery may not be the best time for conducting the visit, as this may make the patients more anxious.