The effect of pre-examination information on the anxiety level for the
gynecologic examination
N. Erkan, A. Gezer, D. Oztürk, E. Karamanoglu
Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Cerrahpasa School of Medicine,
Istanbul University, Turkey
Objective: A cross-sectional study was performed to investigate the
difference of level of anxiety between the pre-informed and uninformed patients
on the gynecologic examination.
Design & Methods: 120 cases who applied the gynecology polyclinic
of Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Cerrahpas¸a¸ School of Medicine,
Istanbul University were randomly selected. 60 cases were informed about the
scope of the gynecologic examination in a standardized manner and the 60 were
examined without any information. After the examination, State-Trait Anxiety
Inventory was applied on the subjects. The data were analyzed by 2 and Student’s
t-test. P 50.05 was accepted as statistically significant.
Results: The difference of state and trait anxiety levels was not
found statistically significant between the pre-informed and uninformed groups.
The mean of state anxiety was 45.5+10.7 in the pre-informed group while it was
44.9+10.2 for the uninformed group. Pre-information just before the examination
was not sufficient to decrease the anxiety levels of the cases due the
gynecologic examination.
Conclusion: Most of the patients want to be informed by a health
personnel. However, as the pre-information just before the examination is not
sufficient to diminish the anxiety levels of the patients, they should be ‘‘educated’’
extensively long before the examination to succeed this goal.
