The Impact of Preoperative Education on the Psychological and Physiological Aspects of Patients Undergoing Abdominal Surgery

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Date
2017-09-18
Authors
طاهر, صلاح فتحي الحج
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An-Najah National University
Abstract
Anxiety can be defined as an emotion distinguished by an unpleasant state of inner disorders and can be accompanied by subjective feelings of worry, nervousness, tension, and activation of the nervous system. Psychological and physical stress can be a result of pain. Anxiety can elevate the heart rate, blood pressure and cardiac outputbecause of the activation of the sympathetic, nervous, hypothalamic, and pituitary systems as well as the adrenal axis. Aim of the study: This study aims to assess the impact of preoperative education on the anxiety level of patients undergoing abdominal surgery and their postoperative pain. Methods The study was prospective, randomized, and controlled. Adult patients were randomly allocated to receive preoperative education. The patients were assessed for preoperative anxiety level and postoperative pain. The study population consisted of adult men and women over 18 years old undergoing any type of elective abdominal surgery in governmental hospitals in the Nablus district. One hundred patients scheduled for elective abdominal surgery were included in the study. Result At baseline, patients’ demographics and clinical characteristics were similar in both the experiment and control care groups, there were significant relationships between receiving an educational program and patient level of anxiety; this was evident due to the fact that moderate, severe, and extreme anxiety levels were higher in the control group than the treatment group. There was not a statistical significant relationship between the patient level of pain and participation in the educational program, this was evident in the pain scores being lower in the experimental group than control group in at each testing time. There was a significant relationship between the preoperative level of anxiety and the postoperative level of pain (at 6 hours postoperative, at significant level 0.05, with P-value 0.001.) Also, it was evident that pain level decreased when anxiety level was lower. There was a statistically significant relationship between pain and gender; as well as between anxiety and education level. But there was not a statistical significant relationship between anxiety level and other demographic variables. There was a significant reduction in the preoperative level of anxiety and postoperative level of pain among the patients who received the structured eduation program. There was a significant association between the preoperative level of anxiety and the postoperative level of pain. Conclusion In this study, preoperative education was effective in reducing preoperative anxiety among patients undergoing abdominal surgery, reducing postoperative pain, and improving vital signs. This study recommends that preoperative health education is included in routine care in preoperative preparations for surgical patients.
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