Effect of Preoperative Education Provided by Operating Room Nurses on the Preoperative and Postoperative Anxiety Levels of Patients Undergoing Radical Prostatectomy.

Background: Prostate cancer is a common malignancy amongst males worldwide. Radical prostatectomy (RP) is a standard treatment, but preoperative anxiety, which affects about 69.5% of patients, negatively affects postoperative outcomes. This study evaluates the effect of preoperative education provided by operating room nurses on the anxiety levels of patients before and after RP.

Methods: A single-centre retrospective cohort study was conducted, including 169 patients who underwent RP between January 2020 and June 2024. The patients were divided into two groups: The control group, which received routine preoperative counselling, and the intervention group, which received enhanced preoperative education. Anxiety levels were assessed at three time points by using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI): 24 h before surgery (T1), upon entering the operating room (T2) and 24 h after surgery (T3). Statistical analyses included -tests, chi-squared tests and repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).

Results: The control group included 102 patients, whilst the intervention group included 67 patients. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed no significant differences in the trait-anxiety levels between groups in terms of group effect, time effect or group × time interaction ( > 0.05). Trait-anxiety levels remained stable across all time points. For state-anxiety levels, group effect ( < 0.001) and time effect ( < 0.001) were statistically significant, but group × time interaction effect was not ( = 0.076). A simple effect analysis showed that state-anxiety levels significantly increased at T2 in both groups, but the increase was less pronounced in the intervention group ( < 0.05). At T3, state-anxiety levels significantly decreased in both groups, with a more substantial reduction observed in the intervention group ( < 0.05). Between-group analysis revealed no significant difference in state-anxiety levels at T1 ( > 0.05). At T2 and T3, however, the intervention group exhibited significantly lower state-anxiety levels than the control group ( < 0.05), with the difference being more pronounced at T2.

Conclusions: Preoperative education provided by operating room nurses significantly reduces preoperative and postoperative anxiety levels in patients undergoing RP. These findings suggest that integrating enhanced educational strategies into perioperative care can improve patient outcomes.