Adaptation to illness in relation to pain perceived by patients after surgery

Figures & data

Table 1 Patients’ characteristics and the overall level of acceptance of illness in the study group

Variables	N (%)
Sex
Men	43 (43)
Women	57 (57)
Place of living
Village	32 (32)
City	68 (68)
Education
Primary	17 (17)
Vocational	27 (27)
Secondary	20 (20)
Postsecondary	3 (3)
University	33 (33)
Marital status
Single	26 (26)
Married	44 (44)
Widow/widower	17 (17)
Divorced	13 (13)
Type or cause of surgery
Vascular surgery	6 (6)
Appendectomy	8 (8)
Hernia	7 (7)
Cesarean section	2 (2)
Cholecystectomy	8 (8)
Peptic ulcer disease	3 (3)
Surgery of the spine	2 (2)
Aneurysm	3 (3)
Removal of foreign body from the wound	2 (2)
Dermatological surgery	5 (5)
Gynecological surgery	2 (2)
Cardiac surgery	3 (3)
Kidney surgery	6 (6)
Ophthalmic surgery	5 (5)
Oncological treatment	7 (7)
Orthopedic surgery	9 (9)
Urological surgery	5 (5)
Fracture	9 (9)
Miscellaneous	8 (8)
Comorbidities
Hypertension	21 (21)
Asthma	5 (5)
Diabetes	11 (11)
Peptic ulcer disease	3 (3)
Heart failure	7 (7)
Hypercholesterolemia	4 (4)
Renal insufficiency	2 (2)
Osteoporosis	5 (5)
Atherosclerosis	2 (2)
Degenerative changes of the spine	3 (3)
Obesity	3 (3)
Miscellaneous	27 (27)
Taking analgesics
Yes	86 (86)
No	14 (14)
Overall level of acceptance of illness
Lack of acceptance	23 (23)
Moderate acceptance level	54 (54)
High acceptance level	23 (23)

Table 2 Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain – distribution of answers

VAS for pain
No pain	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	The worst pain ever
1	8	19	17	20	14	8	4	4	3	2

Table 3 Acceptance of illness scale (AIS) – distribution of answers for each item

AIS items	Strongly agree	Agree	Undecided	Disagree	Strongly disagree
I have problems with adjusting to the limitations imposed by the disease	27	26	30	12	5
Due to my health condition, I am not able to do what I like the most	33	30	16	15	6
The disease makes me feel unwanted	8	22	20	20	30
Health problems make me more dependent on others than I would like to be	20	36	19	17	8
The disease makes me a burden for my family and friends	10	30	20	17	23
Due to my health condition, I do not feel a really valuable man	13	11	21	21	34
I will never be as self-sufficient to the extent to which I would like to be	16	15	15	19	35
I believe people that stay with me are often embarrassed because of my disease	5	17	20	26	32