COMMON FEARS OF PATIENTS UNDERGOING BRONCHOSCOPY

In the world of medical literature, little has been reported about the fears of patients undergoing bronchoscopy. The aim of this study was to identify the common fears of patients undergoing fibreoptic broncho scopy and to determine whether any factors might contribute to reducin g these fears. One hundred and four consecutive patients undergoing br onchoscopy were interviewed. Sixty one patients expressed fear about t he procedure, as follows: afraid of pain (33); afraid of breathing dif ficulties (11); afraid of oropharyngeal irritation (5); afraid of the bronchoscopy findings (2); afraid of sedation, cross-infection and nas al lignocaine spray, respectively (3); and unable to be specific (7), There was no difference between the ''no fear'' and ''fearful'' groups in ethnicity, source of referral, education, previous endoscopy, doct ors' explanation and the patients' understanding of the procedure and its indication, ''Fearful'' patients were significantly younger (t= 2. 082, p=0.037) and female (chi(2 )= 4.180, p=0.038), Doctors were more likely to explain the indication for bronchoscopy than how it would be performed (chi(2)=6.403; p=0.011), and patients were more likely to u nderstand why they needed a bronchoscopy than how it would be performe d (chi(2)=21.505; p<0.001), Fear preceding bronchoscopy is independent of patients' demographic features except for age and gender, Doctors tend to explain ''why'' but not ''how'' the procedure is performed. Pr ovision of detailed information about sensations that are likely to be experienced in bronchoscopy could be used to allay some of these comm on fears.