Evaluating Preoperative Anxiety Levels in Patients Undergoing Breast Cancer Surgery

Abstract

Objective: Patients' anxiety and stress levels are increased after the surgery. High levels of anxiety and stress could increase postoperative complications, as well as to prolong postoperative hospitalization and postoperative morbidity. This prospective, cross-sectional study was to evaluate the preoperative stress levels in patients undergoing breast cancer surgery. Methods: In the study participated 165 female patients who underwent breast cancer surgery, in a major oncological hospital in Greece. Demographic and clinical data were collected, and anxiety and stress levels assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) Scale, which was a self-report questionnaire consisting of 40, 4 Likert Scale questions. The first 20 questions, STAI-X-1, were concerned to how the patient felt while answering the questionnaire (anxiety as a condition) and the remaining 20 questions, STAI-X-2, based on how the patient felt overall (stress as a personality trait). Descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests were performed at a significance level alpha = 0.05. Results: In the present study, 165 females were enrolled who underwent breast cancer surgery. The mean age of the participants was 55.86 years, whereas the mean body mass index was 26.85. The 60.6% of patients underwent a lumpectomy and 28.5% had mastectomy. The 35.8% experienced moderate levels of anxiety, and the 17.6% experienced high levels. The two scales were positively correlated (rho = 0.643, P < 0.001), at the significance level P = 0.01. Furthermore, the Stai-X-2 Scale was negatively correlated with body height (rho = −0.1188, P = 0.016). Conclusions: The present study showed that patients' personality influenced their anxiety levels. Thus, the role of the nurse is a cornerstone in their psychological support preoperatively, to reduce the anxiety and stress levels.

Differences in Preoperative Health-Related Quality of Life between Women Receiving Mastectomy or Breast Conserving Surgery in a Prospectively Recruited Cohort of Breast Cancer Patients

“…Other postoperative studies support these results, as multiple studies report better HRQoL post-surgery in most or some domains for women receiving BCS [3,7,24,25]. Similar to our findings, studies that have looked at preoperative patients have shown that women scheduled to receive breast cancer treatment report poor sleep quality, symptoms of depression, anxiety, fatigue and pain [9,28,29]. Many women have described the newly diagnosed time period the most difficult and struggled with feeling of despair, hopelessness, and distress [30,31], however these studies focus on time of diagnosis, rather than the preoperative period.…”

The Identification of the Relationship Between Oncology Patients’ Care Dependency and Anxiety Levels

“…This increase in the care dependency level paves the way for mental problems in patients (7,14). It was stated that one of the most prevalent mental problems observed in cancer patients was anxiety (5,(24)(25)(26)(27).…”

Effect of balanced anaesthesia with and without modified pectoralis nerve block on postoperative analgesia after breast surgeries: A randomised controlled trial

“…A recent study on breast cancer patients demonstrated moderate-to-severe anxiety in almost 50% of the patients. [ 15 ] Additionally, as modified PEC block is not associated with any nerve injury, we decided to perform it after general anaesthesia as it is more comfortable for patients.…”