Influence of preoperative knowledge on spinal surgery patients

Abstract

Objectives: Influence of preoperative knowledge on spinal surgery patients is an important event in any individual's life and can collapse an individual's financial ability, physical functions, and personal life. Spinal surgery is a stressful experience for patients. The aim is to explore the preoperative spinal surgeries stressors, stress intensity and knowledge among adults. Methods: The patients in this research are admitted in Orthopedics Ward of one medical centerin northern Taiwan for primary spinal surgery . A cross-sectional study was conducted with a purposive sampling of 201 adult patients (107 males and 94 females), aged 20 and over(mean ± SD =61.86±15.82 ).A self-developed questionnaire was used to collect data via face-to-face interviews. These stressors were categorized into four domains including physiological, psychological, social economic and environmental stressors. The three domains include knowledge of anesthesia, knowledge of surgery, knowledge of postoperative care. Results: (1)The mean of total stress intensity fell in between moderate to severe degrees (average mean ± SD = 2.42 ± 0.45 , score ranging from 0 to 3). Among the four domains of these stressors, the top stress intensity was psychological domain. The next was physiological.(2) The correlation of surgical knowledge (including anesthesia-related information, surgery-related information, postoperative care, and overall surgical knowledge) and stress intensity (including physical, psychological, social, environmental, and general) ranged from -14 to -43 (p ＜ .05), which indicates that respondents perceive lower pressure intensity when they have higher degree of knowledge.(3) This study found that the knowledge of spinal surgery was generally insufficient for preoperative patients, a significantly negative correlation(-0.20 to -0.43) with which revealed stress intensity.(4) A multiple stepwise regression analysis on stressors and stress intensity , Knowledge of spinal surgery was the most important predictor which accounted for 35.1% of the variance. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, we suggested it is important to offer more detailed explanation and knowledge before spinal surgery. A comprehensive knowledge assessment tool provides an excellent quality of care and reduces preoperative stress intensity in patients.