THE AMSTERDAM PREOPERATIVE ANXIETY AND INFORMATION SCALE (APAIS)

The purpose of the present study was to assess patients' anxiety level and information requirement in the preoperative phase. During routine preoperative screening, 320 patients were asked to assess their anxie ty and information requirement on a six-item questionnaire, the Amster dam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS). Two hundred pa tients also completed Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STA I-State). Patients were able to complete the questionnaire in less tha n 2 min. On factor analysis, two factors emerged clearly: anxiety and the need for information. The anxiety scale correlated highly (0.74) w ith the STAI-State. It emerged that 32% of the patients could be consi dered as ''anxiety cases'' and over 80% of patients have a positive at titude toward receiving information. Moreover, the results demonstrate d that 1) women were more anxious than men; 2) patients with a high in formation requirement also had a high level of anxiety; 3) patients wh o had never undergone an operation had a higher information requiremen t than those who had. The APAIS can provide anesthesiologists with a v alid, reliable, and easily applicable instrument for assessing the lev el of patients' preoperative anxiety and their need for information.