The Czech version of the Surgical Fear Questionnaire: measuring validity and reliability

Zeleníková, Renáta; Kovářová, Kristýna; Bujok, Petr; Theunissen, Maurice

doi:10.15452/cejnm.2021.12.0022

Cited by 4 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…No significant difference was noted between the male and female patients in our study. However other studies have observed an increase in fear associated with the female gender (12). Increasing age was found to be a factor which increases fear of surgery in multiple studies (1,12) including this study.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 38%

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A descriptive study on assessment of fear of surgery in patients in a tertiary care center

2023

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IntroductionThe psychological aspect of patients awaiting surgery is an area often overlooked by surgical professionals. Fear of surgery is a common yet neglected aspect that is often associated with dire consequences like increased postoperative pain, increased use of analgesia, poor recovery, etc. This study describes the fear amongst surgical patients in a tertiary care unit from 2020 to 2021. MethodPatients awaiting pre-selected major and minor surgeries were administered an internationally validated standard questionnaire (Eight item instrument of surgical fear: Surgical Fear Questionnaire) on their fear of surgery. The prospective descriptive data on the fear of surgery were analyzed with regard to variables such as demographic data, surgery, type of anesthesia, etc. Results130 patients were interviewed. Significant associations were identified between fear of surgery and age, educational level, ASA grading, duration of hospital stay prior to surgery, type of surgery, malignant disease, and type of anesthesia. However, gender, smoking and alcohol use, and history of previous surgery had no significant association. In view of an intervention to alleviate the fear of surgery 64% opted for no intervention/treatment, and 13.8% appreciated some sort of treatment. Strikingly 65% stated more information about the surgery would have been helpful. Discussion and ConclusionFear of surgery in patients is associated with many factors. Preoperative identification of certain factors is helpful to predict and intervene to mitigate them. Informing the patients regarding surgery is important to reduce surgery-related fear.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 38%

“…There have been attempts to quantify surgical fear. The Surgical Fear Questionnaire (SFQ) is a tool that is used to quantify surgical fear and has been validated in many different languages and used in many research publications worldwide (11)(12)(13)(14).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A descriptive study on assessment of fear of surgery in patients in a tertiary care center

2023

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“…Only 1.5% of patients indicated to not experience any fear with respect to short-and long-term aspects of their upcoming treatment. This represents a novel insight, as the commonness of fear of surgery has neither been addressed in prior studies on female BC patients, nor in those on other surgical samples [21,22,24,[28][29][30][31][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59]. In view…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cross-sectional study of fear of surgery in female breast cancer patients: Prevalence, severity, and sources, as well as relevant differences among patients experiencing high, moderate, and low fear of surgery

2023

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Background Fear of surgery has been associated with more postoperative pain, disability, and a lower quality of life among patients undergoing various surgical procedures. While qualitative studies indicate breast cancer patients to be afraid of surgery, detailed quantitative analyses are lacking. The present research aimed at investigating the prevalence, severity, and sources of fear of surgery in this patient group and to compare patients reporting different degrees of such fear. Methods This cross-sectional study included 204 breast cancer patients, 18–70 years old, and scheduled for surgery at Oslo University Hospital, Norway. Following their preoperative visit participants completed validated psychological questionnaires online. Among these, the primary outcome measure, the Surgical Fear Questionnaire (SFQ; scores: 0–10 per item, 0–80 overall). Patients were grouped based on SFQ-percentiles (<25th = little, 25th–75th = moderate and >75th percentile = high fear) and compared on psychological (anxiety, depression, experienced injustice, optimism and expected postsurgical pain), sociodemographic, and medical outcomes. Results 195 patients completed the SFQ. On average fear of surgery was low (M = 26.41, SD = 16.0, median = 26, min-max = 0–80), but omnipresent. Only 1.5% (n = 3) indicated no fear at all. Overall, patients feared surgery itself the most (M = 3.64, SD = 2.8). Groups differed significantly (p < .001) in their experience of anxiety, depression, and injustice, as well as their disposition to be optimistic, and expectance of postsurgical pain. Differences between groups concerning demographic and medical information were largely insignificant. Discussion This study was the first to demonstrate fear of surgery to be prevalent and relevant among female breast cancer patients. The higher a patients’ fear group, the poorer their preoperative psychological constitution. This, largely irrespective of their current diagnoses or treatments, medical history, and demographics. Fear of surgery might thus cater as a prognostic marker and treatment target in this patient group. However, given the cross-sectional character of the present data, prognostic studies are needed to evaluate such claims.

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“…The detailed requirements for calculating the SFQ scores undoubtedly constitute its advantage, as they ensure high reliability of the data obtained. The discussed questionnaire has satisfactory psychometric properties, allowing for its use both in clinical practice and scientific research [28][29][30][31][32][33].…”

Section: The Surgical Fear Questionnairementioning

confidence: 99%

“…A preliminary study conducted among 65 patients awaiting cardiac surgery provided promising results regarding the reliability of the scale (Cronbach's a coefficient for the full scale was 0.93, for short-term aspects of surgery was 0.91, and for long-term surgery aspects was 0.90). The SFQ questionnaire has been used in studies conducted in the Netherlands [28,29], Greece [34], Portugal [35,36], Turkey [21,23,33,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43], Croatia [44], Norway [45], Germany [31], Italy [46], Czech Republic [30], China [32], United States [47,48], Ireland [49], and Hungary [50][51][52]. Most of these publications appeared in the years 2022-2023.…”

Section: Prospective Evaluation Monitoring the Level Of Anxietymentioning

confidence: 99%

Measures of preoperative anxiety: Part two

Nowicka-Sauer,

Zemła,

Banaszkiewicz

et al. 2024

ait

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The current literature indicates that routine evaluation of preoperative anxiety, its determinants, and patient-specific concerns is universally advocated. This aligns with the increasingly acknowledged importance of prehabilitation – a comprehensive process preparing patients for surgery. A crucial component of prehabilitation is assessing patients’ mental health. Recommendations for psychological evaluations in prehabilitation encompass, inter alia, determining the severity of anxiety. This work builds on a 2019 article, which presented scales for preoperative anxiety assessment: the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS), and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). This article extends the possibilities of preoperative anxiety assessment by introducing four additional methods: the Surgical Fear Questionnaire (SFQ), the Anxiety Specific to Surgery Questionnaire (ASSQ), the Surgical Anxiety Questionnaire (SAQ), and Anesthesia- and Surgery-dependent Preoperative Anxiety (ASPA). The authors provide comprehensive details on these instruments, including scoring, interpretation, availability, and usefulness both in scientific research and clinical practice. The authors also provide the data on the availability of Polish versions of the presented methods and preliminary data on the reliability of SFQ in patients awaiting cardiac surgery. This review seems relevant for professionals in multiple disciplines, including anesthesiology, surgery, clinical psychology, nursing, primary care and notably prehabilitation. It emphasizes the necessity of individualizing anxiety assessment and acknowledging patient subjectivity, which the presented methods facilitate through a thorough evaluation of specific patient concerns. The literature review also identifies concerns and future research avenues in this area. The importance of qualitative studies and those evaluating prehabilitation intervention is emphasized.

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The Czech version of the Surgical Fear Questionnaire: measuring validity and reliability

Cited by 4 publications

References 34 publications

A descriptive study on assessment of fear of surgery in patients in a tertiary care center

A descriptive study on assessment of fear of surgery in patients in a tertiary care center

A cross-sectional study of fear of surgery in female breast cancer patients: Prevalence, severity, and sources, as well as relevant differences among patients experiencing high, moderate, and low fear of surgery

Measures of preoperative anxiety: Part two

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