Abstract :
Background: Preoperative anxiety and stress are inevitable in patients awaiting surgery. However it is
known that larger doses of anaesthetics, higher peri- and post-operative requirement of analgesia and longer
hospital stay follow higher levels of anxiety. Studies have shown that pre-operative education reduces
anxiety symptoms. This studywas undertaken to answer the question: “Does a structured educational
intervention to demystify anaesthesia reduce fear and anxiety prior to surgery?”
Objectives: To assess the role of patient education in reducing pre-operative anxiety and fear and improving
satisfaction in patients undergoing surgery using the Anesthesia- and Surgery-dependent Preoperative
Anxiety Scale (ASPA)and the Visual Analog Scale for fear and the Short Assessment of Patient Satisfaction
(SAPS) in patients who have received the structured educational intervention and those who have not.
Materials and Methods: This is a parallel group, single blinded, randomised control trial in 56 consenting
patients awaiting abdominal surgery under general anesthesia. The participants were randomized to the
interventional and comparator groups and ASPA and VAS were administered. Participants in Group A
were given the structured educational intervention to demystify anesthesia. The ASPA and VAS Scales
were again administered by a blinded assessor to all participants. The student investigator administered
SAPS on the third post-operative day or prior to discharge, whichever was earlier.
Result: There was significant reduction in median scores before and after intervention for anxiety
(ASPA=2) and fear (VAS=20) in intervention group compared to the comparator group. (p value=
The median scores for patient satisfaction as measured by SAPS was also higher in the intervention group
compared to the comparator group.(p value=0.042).
Conclusion: There was a significant reduction of pre-operative fear and anxiety in the intervention group,
while the patient satisfaction was also higher in the intervention group.
Keyword :
Demystifying anaesthesia, Educational module, Pre-operative anxiety, Fear, Patient-satisfaction, ASPA, SAPS.