A Medscape report released Jan. 8 indicated that personalized interventions may "significantly" reduce preoperative anxiety in patients.
Here are seven things to know from the report:
1. Researchers conducted the study from March 2021 to January 2023 at Marburg (Germany) University Hospital, focusing on reducing preoperative anxiety.
2. A total of 122 adults were evaluated in the study, all of whom were awaiting elective surgery under general anesthesia with procedures taking place the day after enrollment in the study.
3. In the intervention group, who received a personalized and information-based anxiety intervention, 83.1% of participants reported reduced anesthesia-related anxiety at the first assessment after randomization
4. Only 15.3% of the intervention group reported no change in anxiety.
5. In the control group, 70.7% of the participants reported no change in anxiety.
6. Over 98% of the participants viewed the intervention as helpful.
7. "These findings suggest that using both a video and a conversation could streamline information delivery and make the process more time efficient," the authors of the study wrote. "This study's intervention represents an effective and safe alternative to pharmacological anxiolysis with benzodiazepines," they added.