Banu GÜMÜŞ, Hamdiye Banu KATRAN
Ebelik ve Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi - 2025;8(4):335-344
Objective: This study aimed to examine the effects of preoperative education on postoperative anxiety levels in patients undergoing abdominal surgery at a research and training hospital in İstanbul. Methods: This study included patients admitted to a general surgery clinic between January 1 and June 30, 2024, randomized into control (n=41) and intervention (n=40) groups based on a power analysis. The intervention group received preoperative education, while the control group received standard care. Anxiety levels were assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Data were analyzed with SPSS 25.0. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test assessed normality; the Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests were used for between- and within-group comparisons, respectively (p<.05). The study protocol was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06629571). Results: The mean pretest STAI-I score was 40.07+/-3.05 in the intervention group and 41.24+/-1.76 in the control group, while the mean pretest STAI-II score was 46.17+/-6.65 and 49.54+/-4.18, respectively. Posttest STAI-I scores decreased to 38.60+/-4.75 in the intervention group and 38.19+/-4.04 in the control group. Posttest STAI-II scores were 45.20+/-6.59 in the intervention group and 49.85+/-4.43 in the control group. Although there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of overall STAI-I scores (p >.05), the median scores of the intervention group were lower than those of the control group (p<.05). In addition, a significant decrease was observed in the STAI-II scores of the intervention group compared to the control group (p<.05), indicating that preoperative education effectively reduced trait anxiety levels. Conclusion: Education provided before abdominal surgery is an effective method in reducing the anxiety levels of patients. Providing patients with information in the preoperative period may affect their recovery processes positively by lowering their anxiety levels.
