Anxiety and Pain Expectation: Effects on Day Surgery Recovery
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Effects of Preoperative Anxiety and Pain Expectation on Recovery from Day Surgery
IRAS ID
179952
Contact name
Menno L Verburg
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Highland R&D
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 1 days
Research summary
There is an increased drive towards day-case surgery, because of its well documented advantages, both for patients and NHS. A proportion of the population suffers from general anxiety. There is evidence to show that anxiety and expectations of pain affect the experience of pain. This project aims to establish the prevalence of generalised anxiety in this Highlands day-case population and whether generalised anxiety and pain expectation affect recovery from day-case surgery. For this study one hundred adult patients listed for day-case surgery would be invited to participate. By means of brief questionnaires, the levels of generalised anxiety, present pain, expectation and situational anxiety would be measured preoperatively. Post operatively, pain, use and side effects of medication would be measured with a brief questionnaire, before discharge. One week later the patient would be telephoned to answer the same post-operative questionnaire, assessing pain, analgesic use, side effects, readmission and A&E or GP visits. If it were found that anxiety has a negative effect on recovery from day-case surgery, patients could be assessed routinely for their level of general anxiety during their preoperative-assessment. If the level of anxiety was found to be high, measures could then be taken to alleviate its effects, such as, for instance, the development and introduction of psychosocial interventions that may help to mitigate pain expectation.additional preoperative anaesthetic input, bespoke information or premedication.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0174
Date of REC Opinion
27 Jan 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion