Inevitable problems of older people: presurgery information effect on anxiety levels in patients undergoing cataract surgery.

Aims and objectives This study was to determine the effect of preoperative patient training on the concern level of patients who would be undergoing cataract surgery. Background Cataract is one of the main causes of blindness in the world. Cataract surgery is located among the quite frequently performed surgeries today. Design This study was an experimental study. Methods The subject pool for this research consisted of patients admitted to the Eskisehir Osmangazi University Medical Faculty Hospital Ophthalmology Department for cataract surgery. The sampling consisted of volunteers who were able to communicate and were deemed suitable patients within the limitations of this study (a total of 100 patients; control group = 50, experimental group = 50). Patient identification forms and the State Trait Anxiety Inventory I-II scale were used as data collection tools. Results The mean State Trait Anxiety Inventory pretest score for the experimental group was significantly higher than the mean final test score (53·30 ± 7·02 and 27·54 ± 3·25, respectively, p < 0·05). The mean State Trait Anxiety Inventory pretest score of the control group was 53·82 ± 7·42 and the mean final test score was 49·22 ± 13·17; there was no significant difference between these average scores ( p > 0·05). However, the mean final test scores of the experimental and control groups were significantly different ( p < 0·05). Conclusions In the experimental group in this study, informative, educational and planned nursing care had a significant impact on anxiety levels in patients who had cataract surgery. Relevance to clinical practice Although it is not implemented in most hospitals, and implementation in some hospitals is unplanned, systematically planned preoperative education should take place as part of standard nursing practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]