Do psychological variables affect early surgical recovery?

Background: Numerous studies have examined the effect of psychological variables on surgical recovery, but no definite conclusion has been reached yet. We sought to examine whether psychological factors influence early surgical recovery.

Methods: We performed a systematic search in PubMed, Scopus and PsycINFO databases to identify studies examining the association of preoperative psychological variables or interventions with objectively measured, early surgical outcomes.

Results: We identified 16 eligible studies, 15 of which reported a significant association between at least one psychological variable or intervention and an early postoperative outcome. However, most studies also reported psychological factors not influencing surgical recovery and there was significant heterogeneity across the studies. Overall, trait and state anxiety, state anger, active coping, subclinical depression, and intramarital hostility appeared to complicate recovery, while dispositional optimism, religiousness, anger control, low pain expectations, and external locus of control seemed to promote healing. Psychological interventions (guided relaxation, couple support visit, and psychiatric interview) also appeared to favor recovery. Psychological factors unrelated to surgical outcomes included loneliness, perceived social support, anger expression, and trait anger.

Conclusion: Although the heterogeneity of the available evidence precludes any safe conclusions, psychological variables appear to be associated with early surgical recovery; this association could bear important implications for clinical practice. Large clinical trials and further analyses are needed to precisely evaluate the contribution of psychology in surgical recovery.