Measure of anxiety and depression in postoperative patients undergoing elective surgeries

Abstract

Surgical procedures associated with hospitalization represent a threat to the patient and his/her family, due to physical alterations and psychological and social reactions. This study aimed at assessing the presence of signs and symptoms of anxiety and depression and at verifying associations of the pathologies with the variables gender and age in postoperative patients undergoing elective surgeries. Data were collected in a teaching hospital of Ribeirão Preto and the sample was comprised of 100 participants who completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and an instrument designed to collect clinical and sociodemographic data, as well as information regarding the particpants’conditions in the postoperative period. In the assessment of anxiety and depression, 40% of the subjects were considered to have anxiety and 22% of the subjects were considered to be suffering from depression. A statistically significant relationship was found between the levels of the pathologies and the variables male (p=0.001), female (p=0.000) and age younger than 45 years (p=0.000).

Descriptors: Anxiety; Depression; Surgery; Perioperative Care.