The effectiveness of pre-operative visit by anaesthetists in allaying fears associated with general anaesthesia

We assessed the effectiveness of the day-before visit by anaesthetists in relieving pre-operative fears; and the types of fear. It was a single-centre prospective study involving 100 adult patients admitted one day before for elective surgery and planned for general anaesthesia. A researcher interviewed patients before and after the visits by their anaesthetists. The medians [IQR] for the level of anxiety before and after anaesthetist visits were 5 [3-6] and 3 [1-5] respectively. Pre-operative visits had significantly reduced anxiety (p<0.01). Comparing with other studies, there was higher incidence of fear towards post-operative pain (79%). Gender and ethno-cultural influence were displayed as more females were afraid of post-operative nausea and vomiting, and more Malays of nakedness.