The effect of education given before cataract surgery on the perioperative anxiety levels of patients: A metaanalysis study

Cataract surgery causes anxiety in patients due to the fact that the procedure is mostly performed with local anesthesia, patients are awake during the operation, fear of pain during or after the procedure, the procedure is for a day, uncertainties about visual function, and lack of knowledge before surgery. An effective education given to the patient before the surgical intervention plays a very important role in reducing the level of anxiety, especially in 1-day surgery. This study was planned as a meta-analysis study in order to examine the effect of the education given before cataract surgery on the perioperative anxiety levels of the patients, and it was conducted with meta-analysis, one of the quantitative research methods. Scientific articles and theses were searched through databases from Pubmed, Medline, Science Direct, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, Bahçeşehir University Library catalogs and databases. The words "cataract", "anxiety", "patient education", "meta-analysis", "nursing care" were scanned in Turkish and English in the summary sections. A total of 3306 studies were identified and reviewed, according to the last scan dated June 30, 2022. Research data were obtained from 10 studies. The sample number of the studies included in the analysis is 1080. As a result of the meta-analysis of the 10 articles included in the analysis, it was determined that the studies had a heterogeneous structure. As a result of the calculations, the distribution of effect sizes was evaluated according to the random effects model (p<0.05). Funnel plot, Rosenthal's Safe N method and Orwin's Safe N method were used to demonstrate that the meta-analysis study was reliable and valid and to determine publication bias. According to the results of the analysis, it was determined that the patient education given before the cataract surgery had a 2.4-fold effect on reducing the perioperative anxiety of the patients.