ANXIETY, PAIN, AND DEPRESSION SURROUNDING ELECTIVE SURGERY - MULTIVARIATE COMPARISON OF ABDOMINAL-SURGERY PATIENTS WITH KIDNEY DONORS AND RECIPIENTS

Anxiety, depression and pain were psychometrically assessed in 67 abdominal surgery patients on the day before surgery, on the 1st postoperative day and on the 3rd postoperative day. Patients were divided into kidney donor, kidney recipient and general surgery groups, and a multivariate analysis of variance was performed to compare the trends of response over days across groups. There were significant group differences in the pattern of scores over the 3 days. Trait anxiety was related to post-surgical pain, anxiety and depression in general surgery and renal recipient patients, but not in kidney donors. The meaning attached to the stress of surgery significantly affected the subjective state changes surrounding the operation.