Preoperative Anxiety Among Patients Undergoing Cardiac Procedures and Surgery: A Cross-Sectional Study in A Tertiary Care Hospital

Background and Objective: Patients undergoing cardiac procedures and surgery may experience substantial psychological distress related to their illness, anticipated procedure, anaesthesia, potential complications, and recovery. Preoperative anxiety may influence perioperative experience and recovery. This study assessed the severity and distribution of anxiety symptoms and examined their association with selected demographic and clinical characteristics among patients undergoing cardiac procedures and surgery.

Methods

A quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 50 adults undergoing scheduled cardiac procedures or surgery at a tertiary-care hospital in South India. Anxiety symptoms were assessed using the 7-item Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety subscale (HADS-A). Demographic and clinical variables, including age, sex, procedure type, procedural invasiveness and previous cardiac intervention, were recorded. Because the HADS-A distribution deviated from normality, non-parametric methods were used for inferential analysis, including the Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman rank correlation.