Assessment of Anxiety, Pain and Quality of Life Among Patients
Undergoing Nail Surgery
Abstract
Aims: Nail surgery is a part of dermatological surgery and can cause a
lot of anxiety in patients. The aims of this study is to determine the
anxiety and pain levels of the patients before, during and after nail
surgery and to determine their effects on their lives. Methods: Patients
aged> 14 years who were admitted to our outpatient clinic
between April 2019-2020 and scheduled for nail surgery were included in
the study. Anxiety (Instant and Trait Anxiety Scale (STAI)),
dermatological quality of life (Skindex-16) and pain (Visual analogue
scale (VAS 0–10)) were recorded before, during and after nail surgery.
Results: The patients were most worried about the recurrence of their
disease after the procedure (54.17%). Skindex-16 scores in the 31-50
age group were statistically significantly higher than the other age
groups. Preoperative anxiety scores were higher in male patients
compared to females (p = 0.021). Preoperative anxiety was significantly
lower in patients who had previous nail surgery (p = 0.018).
Preoperative pain scores were negatively correlated with preoperative
anxiety (p = 0.048). Conclusion: Nail surgery is a procedure that can
cause anxiety and stress for patients. Being aware of the anxiety and
pain of patients due to surgery and the factors affecting them by the
dermatologic surgeon can change the attitudes and behaviors towards
patients and the measures to be taken for anxiety and pain can
accelerate the recovery of patients.