Prediction of postoperative pain and duration of hospitalization using two anxiety measures.

This study examined the extent to which measures of anxiety could predict pain and the length of hospitalization following surgery in 111 patients with gallstones over and above what could be predicted on the basis of biographical and medical status variables. Self-reported pain on the third day postoperative could hardly be explained by the variables measured. Preoperative anxiety did not increase the value of the prediction. Age, type of surgery, cystitis and wound infection explained a significant proportion of the variance in postoperative hospital stay. Over and above these variables. A-state on the third postoperative day and also A-state and specific anxiety measured 1 day before surgery exerted a significant increase on the values of prediction of the length of postoperative hospitalization.