The relationship between chest pain and level of perioperative anxiety in patients with lung cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Chest pain is one of the symptoms of lung cancer.Chest pain disrupts patient’s functioning in somatic and psychic area. Purpose: Whether the existence of chest pain affects the level of perioperative anxiety in lung cancer patients. Is there a relationship between everyday functioning due to the chest pain and the level of perioperative anxiety? Is there a relation between anxiety associated with pain and gender? What is the cause of anxiety in this group of the patiens? Methodology: The study was conducted among 150 patients with lung cancer before the scheduled surgery. Data was collected with the use of questionnaire assessment of perioperative anxiety level in patients with lung cancer. Results: The chest pain before the surgery was confirmed by 63 (42%) patients, in case of 87 (58%) patients it was not identified. Chest pain was in case of 48% women and 36% men. 50 (33,3%) research participants who experienced chest pain and 35 patients (23,3%) without this symptom declared experiencing perioperative anxiety. In patients with lung cancer, the correlation: between chest pain and perioperative anxiety was (Z = -4.67; p< .001); between the difficult daily functioning of pain and perioperative anxiety was (Z = -4.72; p< .001); between gender and perioperative anxiety associated with pain was (Z = -3.24; p = 001).Patients afraid of: pain (37,3%), breathing problems (24,0%), physical disability (16,0%), eating problems (12,0%) sleep disorders (9,3%), nothing (1,3%). Conclusions: Patients with chest pain exhibited significantly higher of perioperative anxiety levels than non-symptomatic patients, as well as higher anxiety levels due to deteriorated daily functioning caused by the disorder. Women had a higher level of anxiety associated with pain than men before the surgery. Patients with lung cancer were most afraid of pain in the perioperative period.