Fears and doubts among patients attending Preanaesthetic Checkup (PAC) clinic: a correlation with their educational status

Dr Rajeev Kumar Dubey; Dr Ravi Shankar Prasad; Dr Alok Kumar Bharti; Dr Lal Dhar Mishra

Volume : VI, Issue : VIII, August - 2017

Fears and doubts among patients attending Preanaesthetic Checkup (PAC) clinic: a correlation with their educational status

Dr Rajeev Kumar Dubey, Dr Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dr Alok Kumar Bharti, Dr Lal Dhar Mishra

Abstract :

Fears and anxiety are common during hospitalization for surgery. The fears of surgical insult due to operation, separation from family, hospital environment, pain and awareness during operation, duration of unconsciousness after operation or even death cause strong emotional distress, which, in turn, have an impact on the psychological and somatic functioning of the individual. Fear adversely affects the time of recovery, incidence of complications and the discomfort felt by patients. In this study, the common types of fear among the patients interviewed were regarding intraoperative and postoperative pain (64.3%), operation–related complications (37.7%), awareness during operation (31.5%), prolonged unconsciousness after operation (23.8%), uncongenial operation theatre environment (18%), and death (13.8%). The present study aimed to measure the fears and doubts among patients attending preanaesthetic checkup (PAC) clinic and its correlation with their educational status, based on a simple questionnaire. As many as 62.3% patients stated that they had no fear or worry about operation. High anxiety scores represent a lack of adequate and timely information to patients during the pre–anaesthetic consultation.