Effect of Pre-procedure Anxiety Levels on Post-procedure Pain Scores in Women Undergoing Hysterosalpingography in South-south Nigeria

Background: Infertility is the inability of a couple to conceive after one year of regular, unprotected sexual intercourse. Hysterosalpingography plays a very crucial role the evaluation of the women with infertility.

Objective: To determine the relationship between pre-procedure anxiety and procedure-associated pain among infertile women undergoing hysterosalpingography.

Materials and Methods: This prospective survey was conducted at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Radiology Departments of the two tertiary health institutions in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, from January to August, 2021. Hysterosalpingography was done for 380 infertile women, after obtaining written informed consent. Beck's Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) were used to grade levels of anxiety and pain, respectively. Data were entered into a pre-designed proforma, and analysed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) version 25.0. Results were presented in frequencies and percentages for categorical variables; mean and standard deviation for continuous variables.

Results: The pre-procedure anxiety scores showed significant, positive, and strong relationship with post-procedure pain scores, reflected in a correlation coefficient of 0.50 (p – 0.001). For every unit change in anxiety score, there was an estimated 25.4% change in the pain perception documented by the participants. For participants who had an anxiety score of 0, there was an average pain score of 3.45.

Conclusion: This study established a positive correlation between pre-hysterosalpingography anxiety scores and post-hysterosalpingography pain scores.