Preoperative Anxiety and Fear of Anesthesia in Patients admitted in Tertiary Care Hospitals of Rawalpindi

Background: Preoperative apprehension is a widespread global problem. This anxiety and apprehension can significantly affect all aspects of anesthesia and surgery. Thus, it is essential to detect and address the patient's anxiety to assist in recovery after surgery and improve the patient's outcome. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted over one year in the allied hospitals of Rawalpindi Medical University (RMU). Our sample size was 380 preoperative patients, who were selected by convenience sampling. The Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS) was used.Results: The overall prevalence of anxiety was 30.5%, while the prevalence of information requirement was 33.2%. The mean total APAIS was 12.73±8.56, the mean anxiety subscore was 8.25±5.58, and the mean need for information subscore was 4.48±3.16. A statistically significant difference was found in the scores of the patients based on age, gender, education, type of anesthesia, and type of surgery (p 0.05). Postoperative pain was the most important concern, found in 32% of the patients. Conclusion: Younger age group, female gender, having no formal education, surgery under regional anesthesia, and undergoing C-section, IOL implantation and septoplasty are associated with higher preoperative anxiety, while the presence of comorbidities and previous history of anesthesia are factors that do not significantly affect preoperative anxiety in our population.