Psychological medicine
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Psychological medicine · May 1980
Relationship between pre-operative anxiety and post-operative state.
Janis (1958) has proposed a curvilinear relationship pre-operative anxiety and post-operative emotional state. While other hypotheses share the prediction of a poor outcome for patients with pre-operative high anxiety, Janis' theory is unique in predicting a poor outcome for those with low anxiety. ⋯ On the whole, pre-operative anxiety was a poor predictor of other measures of recovery but, on one measure, patients with low anxiety showed a slower recovery than those with moderate anxiety, i.e. supporting the prediction of a poor outcome for low anxiety patients. The implications of these results for pre-operative preparation of surgical patients and the development of theories of anxiety are discussed.