Vocal markers of preoperative anxiety: a pilot study

Introduction Recent European guidelines in anaesthesia recommend systematic pre-operative anxiety management to prevent its negative peri-operative impact, 1 including impaired memorization of important instructions, and higher incidence of post-operative acute and chronic pain. Usual self-administered questionnaires or scales to assess anxiety in the preoperative setting are time-consuming and rely on the patients' willingness to comply with instructions. 2 Physiological signals such as patients' voice may provide useful information for objective, reliable, and accurate anxiety assessment before surgery. Because of the extensive parasympathetic innervation to the larynx, pharynx, face, and head, stress modifies vocal parameters. 3-4 The effects of acute anxiety on voice are poorly explored in the preoperative context. Our objective was to describe characteristics of patient's vocal parameters related to declared anxiety level in a day-care ophthalmic surgical unit performing cataract surgery.