Currently submitted to: JMIR Perioperative Medicine
Date Submitted: Aug 18, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Aug 21, 2026 - Oct 16, 2026
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Effect of Multilingual Preoperative Educational Handouts on Anxiety Reduction and Surgical Outcomes: A Randomized Controlled Trial
ABSTRACT
Background:
Preoperative anxiety is associated with sympathetic activation, perioperative stress, and poorer patient satisfaction. Structured preoperative education may improve psychological preparedness and perioperative outcomes.
Objective:
: In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of a structured multilingual preoperative educational handout in reducing perioperative anxiety in patients undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia.
Methods:
This was a prospective randomized controlled trial conducted in adult patients with ASA physical status I/II undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia. Seventy-six patients were randomized into two groups. Group I received a structured multilingual educational handout with verbal reinforcement, whereas Group C received routine institutional verbal information alone. Patient understanding of anaesthesia was assessed using a questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale. Anxiety score and patient satisfaction score were assessed using a 10-point visual analogue scale. Data were analysed using SPSS version 26.0.
Results:
Results:
Pre-induction anxiety scores were significantly lower in Group I compared with Group C (1.6 ± 0.8 vs 4.1 ± 1; P< 0.001). Patients receiving structured education demonstrated superior understanding of anaesthesia and perioperative care (94.7% vs 42.1%; P<0.001), along with higher satisfaction scores (8.5±0.89 vs 5.0±1.0; P<0.001).
Conclusions:
Structured multilingual preoperative education reduced perioperative anxiety and improved patient understanding and satisfaction in patients undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia. Clinical Trial: CTRI/2024/12/078500
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