Anxiety before dental surgery under local anesthesia: reducing the items on state anxiety in the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-form X

BACKGROUND It is important to evaluate preoperative anxiety and prepare sedation when performing dental surgery under local anesthesia. Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) is useful for predicting preoperative anxiety. State anxiety is defined as a subjective feeling of nervousness. Reduction in the number of the state anxiety items (questions) will be clinically important in allowing us to predict anxiety more easily. METHODS We analyzed the STAI responses from 1,252 patients who visited our institution to undergo dental surgery under local anesthesia. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted for 9 groups comprising anxiety level determinations using the STAI; we then developed a coefficient of determination and a regression formula. We searched for a group satisfying the largest number of requirements for regression expression while setting any necessary conditions for accurately predicting anxiety before dental surgery under local anesthesia. RESULTS The regression expression from the group determined as normal for preoperative state anxiety was deemed the most suitable for predicting preoperative anxiety. CONCLUSIONS It was possible to reduce the number of items in the STAI by focusing on "Preoperative anxiety before dental surgery."