Effect of preoperative education on anxiety reduction in patients requiring oral and dental surgery procedures

One of the reasons people do not refer to dental offices is anxiety over pain. Preoperative education is one of non-pharmacological methods to treat anxiety. This study evaluated the effect of preoperative education on decreasing state and trait anxiety in patients referring to a dental surgery center.

The subjects in this clinical trial consisted of all the patients requiring oral surgery, who referred to the Department of Oral Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences from September to October 2014. The sample size for each case and control group was estimated at 121. To collect the patient data, the demographic questionnaire and to evaluate state and trait anxiety, Spielberger state and trait anxiety questionnaire were used. Data were analyzed with modified linear regression (α=0.05).

The results showed a significant relationship between preoperative education and a decrease in state (p value = 0.001) and trait (p value = 0.001) anxiety. In addition, a significant relationship was found between level of education with state and trait anxiety (p value = 0.001). In this study there was no significant relationship between gender and state and trait anxiety (p value = 0.09). Furthermore, no significant correlation was found between age and state anxiety (p value = 0.09), but there was a significant correlation between age and trait anxiety (p value = 0.001).

The results showed that state and trait anxiety decreased in the case group subjects who received preoperative education.