Anxiety and e-health literacy levels of patients scheduled for thoracic surgery

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to examine the relationship between the pre-operative anxiety levels of patients scheduled for thoracic surgery and their e-health literacy levels pertaining to skills such as finding and evaluating electronic health information about health problems. Methods: This study was a descriptive and correlational study. One hundred and two patients scheduled for thoracic surgery were interviewed in İzmir. The Amsterdam pre-operative anxiety and information scale (APAIS), the Visual Analog Scale for anxiety (VAS-A), the eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS), and a patient information form were used to collect data. Results: The mean VAS-A score of the patients was 6.02 ± 2.51, their mean APAIS score was 18.73 ± 5.85, and their mean eHEALS score was 24.84 ± 9.21. There was no significant relationship between the anxiety and e-health literacy levels of the patients. Significant differences were found in the e-health literacy levels of the patients according to their ages and reasons for surgery. Conclusion: Patients scheduled for thoracic surgery were determined to experience moderate anxiety and need moderate levels of information. The patients were also found to have moderate e-health literacy levels. There was no significant relationship between the anxiety and e-health literacy levels of the patients.