Effect of an Information Video before Thyroid Biopsy on Patients' Anxiety

To investigate the effects of video-based information on the anxiety of patients who underwent ultrasound-guided thyroid fine-needle aspiration biopsy.

Fifty consecutive patients who underwent thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsy were included in the study prospectively. Patients were divided into two groups before the biopsy. 25 patients in Group 1 received only written information about thyroid biopsy. In Group 2, 25 patients received video-based information along with written information. Baseline anxiety of all the patients was evaluated prior to procedure using STAI-S and STAI-T questionnaires. After the written information was provided to the patients in group 1, the STAI-S questionnaire was repeated. In the same way, group 2 patients were asked to repeat the STAI-S questionnaire after written and video-based information were provided. All patients were asked to evaluate pain during biopsy using visual analog scale (VAS).

There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of age and gender. Although the VAS score was lower in group 2, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups. When the groups were compared in terms of basal anxiety scores, STAI-T was similar in both groups (p = 0.708). Although STAI-S values were similar in pre and post-information patients in Group 1, the STAI-S values in group 2 were statistically significantly decreased.

The video based information provided prior to thyroid biopsy draws the attention as an effective and easy to apply method to decrease the anxiety of the patients.