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Anesthetic assessment in an outpatient consultation clinic reduces preoperative anxiety

From the Department of Anaesthesiology, Clinical Pharmacology and Surgical Intensive Care, University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.

Address correspondence to: Claude Eric Klopfenstein MD, Department of Anaesthesiology, Clinical Pharmacology and Surgical Intensive Care, University Hospitals, CH 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland. Phone: 41-22-38-27-403; Fax: 41-22-38-27-511; E-mail: Claude-Eric.Klopfenstein{at}hcuge.ch

Purpose: Preoperative anxiety in relation to anesthesia remains for many patients a major subject of concern. The aim of the present study was to compare the level of preoperative anxiety in patients assessed in an outpatient consultation clinic with the anxiety level of those having been assessed by the anesthesiologist after entering the hospital.

Method: We studied two groups of 20 patients who underwent elective transurethral prostate or bladder resection: group A having the anesthetic assessment between one-two weeks before hospitalisation, group B having this assessment the evening before surgery, after entering the hospital. Two different methods to assess anxiety were used: the Multiple-Affect-Adjective-Check-List (MAACL) and the visual analogue scale of anxiety (VAS).

Results: Both anxiety provided scores, assessed by two different methods, were lower in group A, than in group B (P < 0.01).

Conclusion: The results of this study confirm that an anesthetic assessment in an outpatient consultation clinic reduces preoperative anxiety, when compared with an assessment on the evening before surgery.

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