Abstract
Background
Preoperative anxiety is a specific type of anxiety that focuses on concerns and worries related to anesthesia and surgical procedures. However, there has been limited research conducted on the various aspects of this phenomenon, especially in waiting areas.
Objective
Using latent profile analysis (LPA), this study aimed to identify various preoperative anxiety profiles among surgical patients in the preoperative waiting area. Additionally, this study aimed to explore the demographic and resilience factors associated with different preoperative anxiety profiles.
Methods and Materials
A cross-sectional study was conducted at comprehensive hospitals in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, China. Three hundred seventy-three (373) surgical patients were included in the analyses. Surgical patients completed the demographic characteristics questionnaire, the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS-C), and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) while waiting for surgery in the waiting area.
Results
The LPA results indicated that the data were most consistent for four types of solutions: high preoperative anxiety-medium information need, high preoperative anxiety-low information need, low preoperative anxiety-medium information need, and low preoperative anxiety-low information need. One-way ANOVA revealed significant differences between the four groups with respect to resilience. Sex, education background, tumor diagnosis, sleep quality and surgical experience significantly predicted profile membership.
Conclusion
There is heterogeneity in preoperative anxiety among surgical patients in the waiting area. When supporting surgical patients in waiting areas, nurses should consider the level of psychological resilience of patients in addition to assessing demographic factors to identify high-risk subgroups to warrant intervention.