The effect of patients' e-health literacy on their preoperative anxiety levels and fears about anesthesia

Ali Özgül Saltalı

doi:10.26466/opusjsr.1343782

EN TR

The effect of patients' e-health literacy on their preoperative anxiety levels and fears about anesthesia

An Erratum to this article was published on March 30, 2026. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/opusjsr/article/1914538

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of e-health literacy on preoperative anxiety levels and fears about anesthesia of individuals who will undergo surgery. The research was carried out with 219 patients waiting in the preoperative waiting unit. The Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety Scale (APAIS) was used to evaluate the preoperative anesthesia anxiety, the E-Health Literacy Scale was used to determine the e-health literacy, and the questionnaire form was used to determine the fear of anesthesia, which was created by using the items in the literature in previous studies on anesthesia fear. According to the results of the research, the three items that patients fear the most about anesthesia are; “feeling pain during surgery”, “feeling pain after the effect of post-operative anesthesia” and “waking up in the middle of surgery”. There is no significant difference in anesthesia-related fears of patients with low, medium and high e-health literacy, only a significant difference in preoperative anxiety scores between patients with low and high e-health literacy. Study results were interpreted as the ability of individuals with high e-health literacy to evaluate the data obtained through digital channels in terms of reliability prevents them from experiencing unnecessary anxiety based on erroneous information.

Keywords

Preoperative Anxiety , Fear of Anesthesia , E-Health Literacy

Hastaların e-sağlık okuryazarlıklarının preoperatif kaygı düzeyleri ve anesteziye ilişkin korkularına etkisi

An Erratum to this article was published on March 30, 2026. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/opusjsr/article/1914538

Öz

Bireylerin tedavi sürecinde ameliyat kararının alınması çoğu hasta için gerek ameliyatın nasıl geçeceği gerekse ameliyat sürecindeki anestezi uygulamalarıyla ilgili olarak kaygı yaratan bir durumdur. Bu çalışmanın amacı cerrahi operasyon geçirecek bireylerin e-sağlık okuryazarlıklarının preoperatif kaygı düzeylerine ve anesteziye ilişkin korkularına etkisinin incelenmesidir. Araştırma ameliyat öncesi bekleme ünitesinde bekleyen 219 hasta ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Hastaların preoperatif anestezi kaygılarının değerlendirilmesinde Amsterdam Preoperatif Kaygı Ölçeği (APAIS), e-sağlık okuryazarlıklarının belirlenmesinde E-Sağlık Okuryazarlığı Ölçeği, anesteziye ilişkin korkularının belirlenmesinde ise literatürde daha önce anestezi korkusu ile ilgili çalışmalarda yer alan korku maddelerinden faydalanılarak oluşturulan anket formu kullanılmıştır. Ayrıca demografik verilerin belirlenmesinde kişisel bilgi formu kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre hastaların anestezi ile ilgili en çok korktukları üç madde; “ameliyat sırasında ağrıyı hissetmek”, “ameliyat sonrası anestezinin etkisi geçince ağrı hissetmek” ve “ameliyatın ortasında uyanmak” şeklinde belirlenmiştir. Ayrıca e-sağlık okuryazarlığı düşük hastaların preoperatif kaygılarının e-sağlık okuryazarlığı yüksek olan hastalardan anlamlı düzeyde yüksek olduğunu göstermiştir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

: Preoperatif Kaygı , Anestezi Korkusu , E-Sağlık Okuryazarlığı

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Communication Technology and Digital Media Studies , Communication and Media Studies (Other)

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Ali Özgül Saltalı ^*
Türkiye

Early Pub Date

September 30, 2023

Publication Date

September 29, 2023

Submission Date

August 15, 2023

Acceptance Date

September 29, 2023

Published in Issue

Year 2023 Volume: 20 Number: 55

DOI

https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.1343782

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA84YJ82GY

APA

Saltalı, A. Ö. (2023). The effect of patients’ e-health literacy on their preoperative anxiety levels and fears about anesthesia. OPUS Journal of Society Research, 20(55), 704-712. https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.1343782

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https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.51371