The Role of Depression, Anxiety and Patient's Expectation in Post-Operative Satisfaction of Lumbar Disc Herniation Surgery

Surgical treatment of Lumbar Disc Herniation (LDH) is one of the most common surgeries in the world. In many studies the success is related to the radiological results. The aim of this study, however, is to determine the effects of some psychological factors such as depression, anxiety and patients’ expectations concerning their satisfaction from Disk Herniation surgery (DHS).Sixty patients who were candidates for DHS were examined for depression, expectations, anxiety and satisfaction before and three months after the surgery using standard questionnaires.The patients consisted of 33 females (55%) and 27 males (45%). The average of pain acuity before the surgery was measured as 7.25 units which decreased to 2.1 units after the operation. 93.3% of the subjects were diagnosed with anxiety of different degrees and 66.7% with depression. 70% had high expectations. The patients’ satisfaction rate was ranging from 1.7 to 8.9 (mean= 5.5). Satisfaction gained the highest rate in the patients aging between 30-39 years old. Also, depression and high expectations were found to be associated with lower levels of satisfaction.Depression decreases patient’s satisfaction while low expectations can increase it.