This study investigated the effects of surgery on state anxiety (A-State) and perceived pain in S9 white male surgical patients. The Melzack-Torgerson Pain Questionnaire, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Fear of Surgery Scale (FSS) were given the day before the operation and again 10 days after surgery. The results indicate that surgery as a physical threat has an effect on A-State but not on anxiety as a personality disposition (trait anxiety; A-Trait). The correlation of A-State and magnitude of reported pain postsurgery, but not presurgery, was attributed to the existence of little pain variance before surgery, and to realistic concern over pain following surgery.
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