The effects of television viewing on preoperative anxiety.

Previous studies have looked at the relationship between preoperative anxiety and postoperative course. However, few studies have looked at methods to decrease preoperative anxiety. To investigate preoperative anxiety and possible anxiety reduction strategies, the investigators devised a clinical study to examine the effects of television viewing on preoperative anxiety. The study compared patients who were not able to watch television in the preoperative setting with those who were. The investigators hypothesized that television viewing in the preoperative setting would decrease preoperative anxiety. A purposive sampling method was chosen so that the study population could be selected using certain criteria. The sample consisted of adult patients 18 to 77 years old who were admitted to the preoperative area at least 2 hours before surgery. A total of 76 subjects participated in the study. However, due to incomplete data on seven of the questionnaires, 7 of the subjects were rejected. Of the remaining 69 subjects, 39 had no television access and the remaining 30 did. Statistical comparisons of the two groups suggest that there was a significant difference in the anxiety levels of the two groups. As hoped, the hypothesis was proven correct: Those subjects who watched television in the preoperative area had significantly lower levels of anxiety than those who did not.