Patient experiences of anxiety, depression and acute pain after surgery: a longitudinal perspective

This study sought to explore the impact of psychological variables anxiety and depression on pain experience over time following surgery. Eighty-five women having major gynaecological surgery were assessed for anxiety, depression and pain after surgery. To gain further understanding, 37 patients participated in a semi-structured taped telephone interview 4-6 weeks post-operatively. Pre-operative anxiety was found to be predictive of post-operative anxiety on Day 2, with patients who experienced high levels of anxiety before surgery continuing to feel anxious afterwards. By Day 4 both anxiety and depression scores increased as pain increased and a third of the sample experienced levels of anxiety in psychiatric proportions whilst under a third experienced similar levels of depression. These findings have significant implications for the provision of acute pain management after surgery. Future research and those managing acute pain services need to consider the multidimensional effect of acute pain and the interface between primary and secondary care