Examination tolerance, pre-examination anxiety, knowledge needs and cooperation in gastroscopic examinees: A prospective, correlational analysis in a health screening population.

Aim: To explore the correlations between examination tolerance and anxiety, knowledge needs and examination cooperation in sedation-free gastroscopy examinees.

Design: Cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling.

Methods: A total of 170 healthy adults who underwent sedation-free gastroenteroscopy were asked to complete a visual analogue scale (VAS) to rate their examination tolerance, the state anxiety questionnaire (S-AI), a newly designed knowledge needs questionnaire and a cooperation questionnaire.

Results: The VAS score was 4.47 ± 1.96, the state anxiety score was 39.46 ± 9.81, the total score for knowledge needs was 44.89 ± 11.02, and the average cooperation score was 2.47 ± 0.38. The VAS score during the examination positively correlated with the pretest state anxiety score and pretest knowledge needs score and negatively correlated with the examination cooperation score. The results of multiple linear regression analysis showed that after undergoing the examination for the first time, anxiety, body position and swallowing control were the main factors influencing the examination tolerance of sedation-free gastroscopy examinees.

Patient or public contribution: We would like to thank the staff and patients of the participating hospital for their assistance and cooperation in performing the current study.