Emilia Campos de Carvalho
University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
Title: Correlation between State-trait anxiety and sociodemographic variables in patients with colorectal cancer in preoperative
Biography
Biography: Emilia Campos de Carvalho
Abstract
Anxiety is one of psychopathological comorbidity most frequent in cancer patients. Thus, the
identification of the feeling of anxiety and related factors it is important to treat this condition. The proposal of this Cross-sectional study is to investigate the correlation between state and trait anxiety and the socio-demographic variables of patients with colorectal cancer in the preoperative. Fifty patients hospitalized for surgical treatment of colorectal cancer fill out a form about sociodemographic questions (age, gender, education, socioeconomic and marital status and religion) and the State-Trait Anxiety Scale. Statistical analyses were performed using the Spearman correlation coefficient and the Pearson correlation coefficient. We observed that women have higher levels of trait anxiety that men (r=0,401; p=0,004). Regarding the state anxiety, older people have lower levels of anxiety (r = -0,302; p=0,033), women are more anxious than men (r=0,333; p=0,018). Literature says that younger people live certain situations, such as worries about the children and career, which can generate more anxiety1. Regarding sex, men tend to have more difficulty to express their feelings and admit their weakness or vulnerability due to social standards2. According to the data of this study, it is concluded that women have higher levels of trait anxiety and state anxiety than men and older people have lower levels of state anxiety than younger. Nurses should observe the characteristics of the patients so that they can provide more appropriate care to the profile of each patient.