Fear and Anxiety in Anesthesia-Naïve Patients Pre-operatively vs Post-operatively

April 29, 2026 updated by: Ana Costa, Stony Brook University

Fear and Anesthesia: How Anxiety and Fear in Anesthesia-Naïve Patients Changes From Preop to Postop

The goal of this observational study is to understand how fear and anxiety felt by anesthesia-naive patients compares before versus after their scheduled surgery. Patients who are scheduled to undergo a low-risk surgery/procedure and have never had anesthesia before will be asked to:

  1. Fill out a survey before their surgery in the perioperative setting
  2. Answer follow-up questions over the phone a few days after their surgery.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Patients that fit the inclusion/exclusion criteria and consent to the study will fill out a paper survey that is an adapted version of the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS) along with additional questions related to anesthesia anxiety for secondary analysis. 7 days (+/-72 hours) after the patient's surgery, they will complete a follow-up survey over the phone that is an adapted version of the APAIS. Results will be recorded on paper and then uploaded into REDCap for data analysis.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
40

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients over 18 who have never received anesthesia before that are scheduled to undergo a low-risk surgery/procedure at Stony Brook University Hospital, Stony Brook Ambulatory Surgery Center, or Stony Brook Ambulatory Care Pavilion.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 18 years old or over
  • Patients scheduled to undergo surgeries such as but not limited to:

cholecystectomies, appendectomies, hernia repairs, breast surgeries, plastic surgeries, thyroidectomy, parathyroidectomy, tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy, lithotripsy, stent placement, kidney stone surgeries, cystoscopies, bladder tumors, ovarian cystectomies, hysterectomies, tubal ligation, hysteroscopy, Intrauterine Device (IUD) insertion, knee replacement, hip replacement, fracture pinning, sports injury surgery such as knee and shoulder scopes. OR patients undergoing procedures such as but not limited to: colonoscopies and endoscopies

  • Patient undergoing anesthesia for the first time
  • Patients who are not pregnant by self report

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients under 18
  • Patients who are pregnant
  • Patients undergoing high-risk surgeries
  • Patients undergoing cancer-related procedures
  • Non-English speaking patients
  • Patients that experience mental status change postoperatively as determined by the medical teams caring for the patient
  • Patients with an existing anxiety disorder, or psychiatric diagnoses
  • Patients on benzodiazepines, antidepressants, chronic opioids

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Differences in anxiety scale scores pre- and post-operatively in anesthesia-naïve patients
Time Frame: From enrollment until 7 days (+/-72 hours) post-operative
Participants will be given 2 scores based on their pre-operative survey and their post-operative survey. The change in anxiety score will be evaluated.
From enrollment until 7 days (+/-72 hours) post-operative

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Determining if there is an association between a pre-operative desire for information related to anesthesia and the post-operative reality of the individual subject's anesthesia experience.
Time Frame: From enrollment until 7 days (+/-71 hours) post-operative
This data will be collected from the pre-operative and post-operative survey questionnaires and evaluated for correlation.
From enrollment until 7 days (+/-71 hours) post-operative
Comparing the frequency of specific fears of events pre-operatively versus the post-operative reality of the individual subject's anesthesia experience.
Time Frame: From enrollment until 7 days (+/-71 hours) post-operative
This data will be collected from the pre-operative and post-operative survey questionnaires and will be evaluated.
From enrollment until 7 days (+/-71 hours) post-operative

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Stony Brook University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Ana Costa, MD, Stony Brook University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 12, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
February 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
February 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 23, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 23, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 30, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 5, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 29, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • IRB2024-00359

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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