The Level of Anxiety and Pain Perception of Endodontic Patients

Svrha rada: Željela se usporediti razina anksioznosti pacijenata s tjeskobom, strahom koji su procijenili doktori dentalne medicine. Također se htjelo usporediti pacijentovu očekivanu bol s onom doživljenom tijekom zahvata te liječnikova procjena očekivane i stvarne boli. Metode: Šezdeset i šest pacijenata i njihovi liječnici dentalne medicine ispunili su dva upitnika prije i poslije zahvata. Prvi dio pitanja postavljenih pacijentima odnosio se na demografske podatke, učestalost odlazaka stomatologu, razinu anksioznosti i očekivanu bol. Prije zahvata liječnici su procijenili razinu straha pojedinog pacijenta i očekivani intenzitet boli. Nakon zahvata pacijenti su procijenili razinu očekivane boli te liječnikovu empatiju, a liječnici su ponovno procijenili jakost pacijentove boli. Za statističku analizu zavisnih uzoraka upotrijebljen je bio t-test, a Spearmanovim rho koeficijentom korelacije određena je razina statističke značajnosti od 0,05. Rezultati: Pacijentovo očekivanje intenziteta boli bilo je veće, negoli se to dogodilo tijekom zahvata (t-test = 3,540, p = 0,001). Nije pronađena razlika između razine boli koju su očekivali terapeuti i njihove percepcije boli tijekom zahvata. Utvrđena je statistički značajna korelacija između pacijentove razine anksioznosti i doktorova prepoznavanja njegove ustrašenosti (Spearmanov rho = 0,460, p<0,001).Viša razina anksioznosti povećala je očekivani intenzitet boli (Spearmanov rho = 0,401, p=0,001). Stvarni intenzitet boli nije bio značajno povezan s dentalnom anksioznošću. (Spearmanov rho = 0,080, p = 0,524). Zaključak: S obzirom na to da je razina dentalne anksioznosti povezana s povećanim intenzitetom očekivane boli, začarani krug boli i straha mogao bi biti prekinut pozitivnim informacijama koje bi dobio pacijent prije endodontskog zahvata i tijekom tretmana.Objectives: to compare the level of anxiety reported by patients and assessed by dentists. Also, the expected and actual pain during the treatment perceived by the patient and dentist were assessed. Methods: sixty six endodontic patients filled in two questionnaires, prior to and after the treatment, so did their therapists. The first set of questions for patients was regarding demographics, the frequency of dental visits, the level of anxiety and expectations about the level of pain. Before the treatment, dentists estimated the level of patients’ anxiety and the expected intensity of pain. After the treatment, the patients evaluated the level of experienced pain and dentists’ empathy during the treatment, while dentists reassessed the intensity of patients’ pain.The data were statistically analysed by t-test for paired samples and by Spearmans’s Rho correlation coefficient at level of significance set at 0.05. Results: Patients’ expectation of pain intensity was higher than the actual pain during the treatment (t-test=3.540, p=0.001). There was no difference in the level of pain which dentists expected and their perception of pain during the procedure. There was a statistically significant correlation between the patients’ level of anxiety and recognition of it by dentists (Spearman Rho=0.460, p<0.001). A higher level of anxiety increased the expected intensity of pain (Spearman Rho=0.401, p=0.001). Actual intensity of pain was not significantly associated with dental anxiety (Spearman Rho=0.080, p=0.524). Conclusion: Since the level of dental anxiety was associated with the increased intensity of expected pain, a vicious cycle of pain and anxiety may be terminated by giving positive information to the patient before and during endodontic procedures