The Roles Of Educational Attainment And Type Of Illness On Pre-Surgery (State) Anxiety

Abstract

This study examined the effects of educational attainment and type of illness on pre-surgery (state) anxiety. The participants (N=100) for the study aged between 20 and 50 years, were pre-surgical patients randomly selected from hospitals in Uyo Metropolis. The Spielberger (1985) State Anxiety Inventory was used as the instrument in this study. A 2 x 2 factorial design was adopted and a 2-way statistical Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of the data showed that the hypothesis which predicted a statistically significant difference in pre-surgery (state) anxiety between patients with low and high educational attainment was supported F(1,96) = 283.48, P<.01. This indicates that educated patients will express less pre-surgery (state) anxiety than patients with low educational attainment. However, the hypothesis that predicted a statistically significant difference in pre-surgery (state) anxiety between patients with mild and severe illness was not confirmed. Also, the interaction effect of educational attainment and type of illness was not established. It was suggested among other things that medical personnel in hospitals should educate patients more about surgery, anaesthesia and the need for surgical operations. Implications and recommendations were also discussed.