[Assessment of anxiety levels in patients during diagnostic endoscopy].
Patients with increased pre-endoscopic anxiety take advantage of the use of conscious sedation. However, the habit of using premedication varies according to the type of endoscopic examination. Aims of this study were: to evaluate whether different endoscopic procedures may have different effects on patient anxiety; and whether anxiety affects patient tolerance. 163 consecutive outpatients undergoing endoscopy (75 gastroscopy, 51 colonoscopy and 37 bronchoscopy) were interviewed to evaluate pre-endoscopy anxiety, by using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. After endoscopy, endoscopists rated patient cooperation on a 10-cm visual analogue scale. Females had state and trait anxiety levels higher than males (50.49 +/- 1.37 vs 45.07 +/- 1.20, p < 0.01; and 44.46 +/- 1.06 vs 38.48 +/- 1.01, p < 0.01). Anxiety levels were not related with the type of endoscopic procedure. A direct relationship was observed between state and trait anxiety (p < 0.001). Patient cooperation to endoscopy was inversely related with both trait (p < 0.05) and state anxiety (p < 0.01). In conclusion, gastroscopy, colonoscopy and bronchoscopy seem to induce similar pre-endoscopy anxiety levels. Therefore, the different frequency in the use of intravenous sedation between bronchial and gastrointestinal endoscopy does not seem justified.
Trevisani
Lucio
L
I Divisione di Medicina Generale, Dipartimento di Medicina, Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Arcispedale S. Anna, Ferrara. tvl@unife.it
Sartori
Sergio
S
Putinati
Stefano
S
Gaudenzi
Piergiorgio
P
Chiamenti
Carlo Maria
CM
Gilli
Giuseppe
G
Grassi
Luigi
L
Abbasciano
Vincenzo
V
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001999:Bronchoscopy / Q000523:psychology*; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005773:Gastroscopy / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged