Determining the effect of visual information on the surgical process on the level of state-trait anxiety

This study aims to determine the effect of providing visual information pertaining to the operation process on the state-trait anxiety levels of patients who are to undergo surgery for the first time. The design of the study was planned as a quasi-experimental research with two control groups. The research was carried out in Bursa Uludağ University Health Research and Application Center General Surgery Clinic between December 2019 - June 2021 with 60 patients. There were 1 intervention group and 2 control groups in the study. Patients with no previous surgical experience were included in the intervention and first control group, and patients with previous surgical experience were included in the second control group. Patients in the intervention group were subjected to visual information, control groups were solely undergone through standard care procedures. SPSS 21.0 program was used for statistical analysis and type I error level was accepted as 5% in statistical analysis. The groups were similar according to their demographic variables (p>0.05). The trait and state anxiety scores of the intervention group patients with positive perceptios on operating room were lower than the patients in the control groups (p=0.015 and p=0.037). Males had more positive perceptions related to operating theatre than women (p=0.002). There was no difference between the groups in terms of trait and state anxiety scores (p=0.284 and p=0.292). Although no significance was observed between the three groups according to their anxiety scores. Patients in intervention group, subjected to visual information on surgical process before their surgery, had positive perceptions related to operating room. We think that the emergence of the Covid-19 outbreak while the research was conducted, influenced the outcomes of this study. In order to obtain more detailed and precise results from studies aiming to reduce pre-operative anxiety, new studies are needed in conditions more adapted to the Covid-19 epidemic.