Journal of International Psychiatry

[Abstract] Objective To investigate the effect of anxiety on early postoperative rehabilitation and pain in older adults with trochanteric fractures of the femur. Methods Eighty-eight elderly patients with trochanteric fracture of femur from January 2018 to December 2022 were selected in this study. Anxiety was assessed on the postoperative day and set into an anxious as well as a non-anxious group, with 38 cases of anxiety detected postoperatively in 88 patients. The time of hospitalization, getting out of bed and starting weight bearing was compared between the two groups. The postoperative visual analog scales (VAS) and serum prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) levels were compared at 1, 3, and 7 d after surgery. Results The time to hospitalization, getting out of bed, and starting weight bearing was significantly higher in the anxiety group than in the non-anxiety group, (P<0.05). Postoperative VAS scores and serum PGE2 levels were significantly higher in the anxious group than in the anxious group at 1d, 3d, and 7d postoperatively (P<0.05). Conclusion The incidence of postoperative anxiety is high in elderly femoral trochanteric fractures, and postoperative anxiety prolongs the duration of hospitalization and getting out of bed, exacerbates postoperative pain symptoms, elevates serum levels of pain-causing substances, and affects the patients immediate prognosis.

Key words Anxiety; Elderly Femoral Trochanteric Fracture; Prognosis; Pain