This descriptive study aimed firstly to examine the perception of severity of the illness, the information required before an operation, and the anxiety level of the preoperative outpatients. Secondly we investigated the relationships between the perception of severity of the illness, the information required before an operation, and the level of anxiety.

Purposive sampling was used to recruit the sample at the Ear Nose and Throat outpatient clinic (ENT clinic) in Songklanagarind Hospital during November, 2006 - January, 2007. The 126 patient sample used in this study was aged at least 18 years, had been diagnosed and had an appointment for an operation. The questionnaires asked 1) perception of severity of the illness, 2) information required before operation, 3) anxiety trait, and 4) state of anxiety on the illness.

The results of the study gave an average age of 41 years (SD=14.31) and 70% were women. The main operations were the thyroid gland and tonsils. The level of perception of severity of the illness was at the medium level but most perceptions of the severity were severe followed by perceived complications of the disease, potential to die, and whether they had an opportunity to be cured from the disease. The levels for the trait and state of anxiety of the patient were at the medium level. The information that is required before an operation was at high level and showed a need to know the results of the operation was at the highest level followed by self-care after surgery, and self-care to prevent the postoperative complications. The relationships between the perception of severity of the illness and trait anxiety was weak (r=0.26, p < 0.01), or was the perception of severity of the illness and state anxiety (r=0.25, p < 0.01), while the relationship between having operative experience and the information required before an operation was weakly negative (r=-0.33, p < 0.01).

The results of this study showed the essential information required by the ENT outpatients before an operation and will help guide the effective nursing care of ENT patients in the future.