Effect of pre-operative instruction on anxiety among women undergoing abdominal hysterectomy

Women's health and hysterectomies have a direct bearing on their mental and emotional responses, as their reproductive system gets affected or removed. Abdominal hysterectomy is said to engender more stress and anxiety than other comparable surgeries. Providing pre-operative information on surgery is essential in reducing anxiety before surgery for positive post-operative outcomes. In this quasi-experimental study conducted to evaluate effectiveness of pre-operative instruction on anxiety among women undergoing abdominal hysterectomy for non-malignant conditions in multispecialty hospital, Bangalore, 60 women were selected by purposive sampling method and assigned to experimental and control groups. On day 2 of admission pre-test anxiety was assessed and experimental group was given 45 minutes instructional session whereas control group did not receive pre-operative instruction. Assessment of post-test anxiety was done after 24 hours of surgery. The results showed significant reduction in anxiety (p < 0.001) of women in the experimental group who received pre-operative instruction.