Author(s)

Dikshya Upreti¹, Abhash Niraula², Rajan Gyawali¹, Ashok Baral¹, Pranav Joshi³, Batsala Upreti⁴, Anoop Krishna Gupta¹

¹Department of Psychiatry, National Medical College Teaching Hospital, Birgunj, Nepal.
²P.T Birtacity Hospital and Research Center PVT. Ltd., Birtamode, Jhapa, Nepal.
³Annapurna Neurological Institute and Allied Sciences Center, Kathmandu, Nepal.
⁴KIST Medical College & Teaching Hospital, Lalitpur, Nepal.

Background: Patients undergoing surgical procedures frequently develop preoperative anxiety. Purpose: This cross-sectional study’s objectives was to find out the prevalence of preoperative anxiety among adult patients undergoing elective surgical operations at a tertiary teaching hospital and the impact of COVID-19. Methods: Between May 2021 and April 2022, 245 surgical patients at Nepal’s National Medical College Teaching Hospital participated in the study. The data were collected during COVID pandemic with the help of Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). Findings: The current study suggests 30.2% of patients had preoperative anxiety. There is no significant correlation between BAI score and COVID-19 infection. Conclusions: Low levels of preoperative anxiety were found during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Nepalese tertiary hospital. The main factor affecting anxiety levels was seen to be that of preoperative pain. This elevated anxiety levels can be reduced through proper preoperative counselling.

Anxiety, Preoperative Period, COVID-19 Pandemic

Upreti, D. , Niraula, A. , Gyawali, R. , Baral, A. , Joshi, P. , Upreti, B. and Gupta, A. (2024) Prevalence and Factors Associated with Preoperative Anxiety during COVID-19 Pandemic at Tertiary Care Center. Voice of the Publisher, 10, 54-63. doi: 10.4236/vp.2024.101005.