the effects of giving information on the level of anxiety in patients candidates for general surgery procedures

this study investigated the effects of giving information and the role of individual characteristic in level of anxiety in general surgery operation patients. 112 male and female (with a mean age of 31.8) in two groups of experimental and control subjects were studied. the subjects answered to rater internal-external locus of control scale. then the subjects in the experimental group were given a sheet with general information about the surgery stages. this information included surgery procedures and information about hernia, gall bladder disease, thyroid disease, abdominal cavity mass, and physician's functions in the treatment of the specified disease. the control group was not given any information. two hours before surgery, patients completed the spilberger anxiety state inventory. the results showed that the level of anxiety in patients who were given information about their illness and the process of treatment was significantly lower than those patients who were not given any information. there was no significant difference between four kinds of diseases. the level of anxiety in patients with internal locus of control who had received information was lower. when subjects were not given any information, the level of anxiety in patients with internal locus of control was significantly lower than those with external locus of control. there was no significant differences between males and females.