Background and Aims:We aimed to investigate the frequency of state anxiety before endoscopy and the effective factors. Material and Method: A total of 205 patients (122 women, 83 men) who were referred to the gastroenterology clinic for endoscopy between August 2008 and February 2009 were included into the study. A questionnaire was completed to assess sociodemographic characteristics and current diseases and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale was used to assess state anxiety. Results: State anxiety was determined in 46.8% of the patients. No significant relations were found between anxiety level and age, marital status, educational level, or monthly income, but significant differences were determined in terms of sex, social security and working status of the patients. Anxiety levels were significantly high in women, patients without health insurance and in unemployed patients. No significant relations were found between anxiety and whether complaints were acute or chronic, patient awareness of the diagnosis, number of previous endoscopies, the type of endoscopy to be applied, or presence of gastrointestinal system cancer in the family; however, history of a previous unsatisfactory endoscopy experience and of psychiatric disease were significantly related to higher anxiety levels. Conclusion: Risk factors contributing to state anxiety in patients referred for endoscopy are psychiatric disease history, female gender and unsatisfactory endoscopy history. When evaluating these factors before applying endoscopy, we must inform patients who have risk factors.
Key words: Endoscopy, anxiety, risk factorsGirifl ve Amaç: Endoskopik giriflim öncesi hastalarda olabilecek anksiyetenin ve iliflkili faktörlerini tan›mlamak. Gereç ve Yöntem: A¤ustos 2008-fiubat 2009 tarihleri aras›nda gastrointestinal endoskopi için baflvuran 205 (122 kad›n, 83 erkek) hasta çal›flmaya dahil edildi. Hastalar›n sosyodemografik özellikleri, yandafl hastal›klar› ve Hamilton anksiyete skalas› skorlar› incelendi. Bulgular: Hastalar›n %46.8'inde endoskopi ifllemine ba¤l› anksiyete tespit edildi. Yafl, medeni durum, e¤itim düzeyi, ayl›k gelir ile anksiyete derecesi aras›nda iliflki bulunamad›. Ancak, cinsiyet, sosyal güvenlik ve hastalar›n çal›flma statüsü ile anksiyete decesi aras›nda iliflki gözlendi ve kad›n cinsiyet, sosyal güvence olmamas› ve iflsizlerde anksiyete skoru yüksekti. Hastalar›n yak›nmalar›n›n kronik/akut olmas›, tan›dan haberdar olmalar›, daha önceki endoskopi say›s› ve flekilleri, ailede gastrointestinal sistem kanseri varl›¤›, daha önceki yetersiz endoskopi öyküsü ile anksiyete aras›nda iliflki bulunamad›. Sonuç: Daha önce psikiyatrik sorun olmas›, kad›n cinsiyet ve yetersiz endoskopi öyküsü olan hastalarda hastalara daha fazla bilgilendirme yap›lmas›-n›n uygun oldu¤u sonucuna vard›k.Anahtar kelimeler: Endoskopi, anksiyete, risk faktörleri