Day surgery and general anaesthesia: What makes patients anxious?

Mitchell, MJ 2010, 'Day surgery and general anaesthesia: What makes patients anxious?' , Day Surgery Australia, 9 (2) , pp. 8-16.

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Abstract

For many patients the prospective of undergoing surgery and general anaesthesia is highly anxiety provoking. With the global rise in day surgery and limited nurse/ patient contact, anxiety has become a prominent issue. The aim of the study was to establish the degree of anxiety arising from elective day surgery and general anaesthesia and uncover specific anxiety provoking aspects. Day surgery patients (n=460) completed a questionnaire during recovery at home and return it by post. The majority of patients (85%) were anxious on the day of surgery and 50% desired a detailed level of information. Anaesthetic information provision, catastrophising and imminence of surgery were deemed to be reliable predictors of anxiety. The planned provision of anaesthetic information in advance of the day of surgery, emphasising ‘controlled unconsciousness’, provision of information to help limit catastrophising thoughts and assistance to reduce the impact of ‘waiting’ are recommended for the effective management of anxiety.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Day surgery, general anaesthesia, anxiety, information provision and waiting.
Themes:	Subjects / Themes > R Medicine > RT Nursing Health and Wellbeing
Schools:	Schools > School of Health and Society
Journal or Publication Title:	Day Surgery Australia
Publisher:	Australian Day Surgery Nurses Association
Refereed:	Yes
ISSN:	1446-8999
Depositing User:	MJ Mitchell
Date Deposited:	13 Sep 2010 14:33
Last Modified:	08 Aug 2017 12:59
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/9735

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