Social support and pre-operative anxiety in patients undergoing elective surgical procedures: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Pre-operative anxiety may adversely affect post-operative recovery and treatment satisfaction. This systematic review assessed the impact of social support on pre-operative anxiety in elective surgery patients. MEDLINE via Ovid, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CINAHL Plus, Emcare and LILACS were searched for publications (1950–2021). Fourteen studies were included for descriptive analysis and five for meta-analysis. The pooled estimate in the meta-analysis was r = −0.372 (95% CI: −0.578 to −0.122). Stronger social support was weakly associated with reduced pre-operative anxiety, but the quality of available evidence was low. The findings suggest potential benefit in enhancing utilisation of support networks before elective surgery.