The role of demystifying anaesthesia in allaying anxiety and improving post-operative patient satisfaction in a tertiary care centre: A randomised control trial

Abstract

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?” 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.This is aparallel 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. 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=<0.001). 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).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.