Anxiety of adult patients undergoing general anaesthesia and their myths and beliefs

Anxiety is common amongst patients awaiting general anaesthesia (GA). A descriptive cross sectional study was carried out amongst 385 patients undergoing GA at Colombo South Teaching Hospital to determine the incidence of anxiety and the associated myths, beliefs and other factors. The results showed that 23.4% were anxious regarding GA. Females showed a higher incidence of anxiety (35.1%) than males (11.1%). Anxiety was higher in those with lower educational levels than higher educational levels. The highest proportion of non-anxious patients was the semiprofessionals (91.2%). Feeling pain during surgery (25%), getting paralyzed after anaesthesia (23.4%) and waking up during the procedure (12.7%) were the commonest myths and beliefs in patients. Anxiety was found to be highest among the patients who believed that their privacy would be affected during the procedure (85.7%). Anxiety was also high among those who believed that the Anaesthetist will leave the theater (83%) and that they may get paralyzed after the procedure (82%). All the myths and beliefs were found to be statistically associated with the state of anxiety (p<0.05)