THE INFLUENCE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES ON POSTOPERATIVE ANXIETY ANDPHYSICAL COMPLAINTS IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING LUMBAR SURGERY

Previous research has indicated that postoperative distress is influen ced by diverse biographic, medical and psychological variables, such a s personality, coping behaviours and anxiety. The influence of state v ariables, apart from anxiety and coping behaviour, has received scant attention. Furthermore, the influence of coping behaviour has remained unclear. The present study investigated coping behaviour and indicati ons of physical distress, i.e., preoperative fatigue, leg pain and bac k pain, besides preoperative anxiety, as predictors of postoperative a nxiety and physical complaints in 126 patients undergoing lumbar surge ry. Preoperative anxiety and leg pain independently predicted more pos toperative anxiety beyond the influence of age, sex and medical variab les. Preoperative anxiety and fatigue independently predicted more pos toperative physical complaints. No associations were found between the coping behaviours and the postoperative variables. The implications o f these results are discussed in relation to intervention strategies a imed at diminishing the stress of surgery.