Objective: To investigate the effects of dental anxiety on fluctuations in blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) during tooth extraction in hypertensive patients under local anaesthesia, and how they are influenced by various confounding variables.
Methods: This is a prospective repeated-measures cohort study involving 600 patients successively recruited from Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing, China. BP and HR were repeatedly measured at rest (T0), before anaesthesia (T1), during tooth extraction (T2) and after tooth extraction (T3). Anxiety status was measured prior to local anaesthesia using a modified dental anxiety scale (MDAS). Three groups were assigned: mild anxiety (Corah DAS score of 4 to 8), moderate anxiety (score of 9 to 12) and severe anxiety (score of 13 to 20). We used a generalised linear mixed model (GLMM) to analyse the effects of dental anxiety on fluctuations in BP and HR. Interaction analysis was used to further explore the correlationship between these interactive factors.
Results: The mean anxiety scale score was 9.63 ± 2.88. Severe preoperative anxiety (score of 14 to 20) was associated with significantly increased HR during administration of anaesthesia. Patients with severe anxiety also displayed a significantly greater increase in HR during anaesthetic administration (P < 0.001). When analysing the joint effects of different anxiety statuses over time, blood pressure was significantly elevated in all patients with moderate and severe anxiety during tooth extraction at T2 (β = 1.25, 95% CI 0.24 to 2.27). We also observed a significant decrease in HR in the moderate anxiety group at T3 (β = −1.51, 95% CI −2.38 to −0.63) and a significant increase in HR in the severe anxiety group at T1, T2 and T3 (β = 2.52, 95% CI 1.12 to 3.93; β = 3.84, 95% CI 2.30 to 5.38; β = 4.57, 95% CI 3.03 to 6.11, respectively).
Conclusion: This study indicates that the effects of dental anxiety on BP and HR in middle-aged and elderly patients with hypertension during local anaesthesia and tooth extraction were influenced by various confounding variables.