Predictors of preoperational anxiety in surgical patients

In clinical practice for the diagnosis of anxiety it is very useful to know the various predictors which increase the risk of preoperational anxiety in patients. The aim of this study is to identify which predictors (gender, age, type of surgery, type of anaesthesia, previous experience with surgery, time before surgery, and medical diagnosis) are significant predictors of preoperational anxiety.A total of 278 respondents who had a medical diagnosis that required abdominal surgery, aged between 18 and 86 (AM = 46.04; SD = 16.5) participated in the study. To assess anxiety in the patients we used the Anxiety Level-12 scale, which was designed by modifying the measurement tool “Anxiety Level from the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC)” and had been validated in the conditions of the Slovak Republic. Anxiety assessment in the patients was carried out before their surgeries at various times (AM = 8 h; SD = 5; Mdn = 6.50). The research was approved by the Ethics Committee. The software, SPSS 22.0 multiple linear regression analysis, was used for the statistical data analysis.Gender, type of surgery, type of anaesthesia, and time before the surgery are significant predictors of preoperational anxiety; previous experience with surgery, age, and medical diagnosis are non-significant predictors.Knowing the predictors of preoperational anxiety would help nurses identify at risk patients. They could implement effective intervention strategies ahead of time to reduce preoperational anxiety and ensure a smooth surgery and postoperative period.