Understanding preoperative anxiety in orthognathic patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Do social support, resilience and coping styles impact on pre-operative anxiety in orthognathic patients?
IRAS ID
259160
Contact name
Susan Cunningham
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
UCLH NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Z6364106/2019/03/115, UCL Data Protection reference number
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 3 months, 1 days
Research summary
Orthognathic treatment is a form of treatment used to manage severe dentofacial discrepancies. It involves orthodontic treatment, in the form of fixed braces, and maxillofacial surgery to correct the relative positions of the upper and/or lower jaws. The majority of patients who present for orthognathic treatment do so for aesthetic, functional and psychosocial concerns. Any surgical experience can be distressing, and some patients experience heightened levels of anxiety as the surgery approaches. Studies have shown that patients who exhibit increased levels of anxiety or stress pre-surgically tend to experience slower recovery and more post-operative symptoms. These findings highlight the importance of improving patient management strategies for orthognathic patients in order to reduce pre-surgical anxiety and enhance patient satisfaction post-surgically. In order to do this, a better understanding of the factors related to pre-surgical anxiety in orthognathic patients is required. Previous studies exploring anxiety in elective surgery have found that social support, resilience and coping styles affect pre-surgical anxiety but these areas have not been studied in relation to pre-operative anxiety in orthognathic patients.
This study will therefore employ questionnaires and interviews to explore pre-surgical anxiety in orthognathic surgery patients with reference to the three factors detailed above: social support, resilience and coping styles. It is hoped that the findings of this study will improve our understanding of the issues experienced by orthognathic patients whilst awaiting jaw surgery and highlight ways in which individuals successfully deal with these.
These insights will aid in the development of a support package to better prepare both patients and carers in the weeks leading up to surgery and this has the potential to reduce pre-surgical anxiety, and to improve post-surgery recovery and satisfaction in the longer term.
REC name
London - Bromley Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/0992
Date of REC Opinion
3 Jul 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion