title: Predicting Preoperative Hemodynamic Changes Using the Visual Analog Scale.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate how both visual analog scale cutoff scores and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scores relate to hemodynamic changes in patients entering the operating theater.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study subjects included 130 prospectively enrolled patients who were scheduled for abdominal surgery under combined epidural-general anesthesia and who underwent preoperative anxiety level measurements using both scales.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The heart rate and systolic blood pressure on entering the operating theater were significantly higher than those at baseline in the high and low/moderate anxiety groups. Variations in heart rate and systolic blood pressure were significantly higher, whereas peripheral blood flow was significantly lower in the high anxiety group compared with the low/moderate anxiety group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Using the visual analog scale to measure anxiety can improve our understanding of the hemodynamic changes that occur when patients enter the operating theater.
authors.forename: Noriyoshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.forename: Megumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hori
authors.forename: Mai
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Utada
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Toshiyasu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Fumiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Furukawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety; D001794:Blood Pressure; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009873:Operating Rooms; D011446:Prospective Studies; D064232:Visual Analog Scale
keywords: hemodynamics; preoperative anxiety; research; visual analog scale