Material and Method: 104 (104 eyes) consecutive patients scheduled for cataract surgery under topical anaesthesia were included in this study Cataract firmness was classified according to lens opacities classification system III(LOCS). The state and trait anxiety in cataract surgery was measured by State- Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scale just before the surgery. The pain intensity in the intraoperative period was measured by the visual analog scale (VAS). In order to monitor the patient's behavior during cataract surgery was used by Patient Cooperation Scale. Total surgical time were also recorded.

Results: The mean age was 69.7±9.4 years (46-92), the mean anxiety score was 36.82±6.08 (21-50), and mean operation time was 8.2 ±2.2 (5-15) minutes. There were statistically significant correlations among preoperative anxiety scores and intraoperative pain scores and patients' cooperation scores (p<0.05). In addition, there were also statistically significant correlations among patients' cooperation scores , cataract firmness, operation time, and intraoperative pain scores (p<0.05).

Conclusion: The detection of preoperative anxiety scores of patients undergoing cataract surgery are critical for prediction of intraoperative pain and patient's cooperation especially during cataract surgery under topical anaesthesia. Patient's cooperation and pain threshold reduced in patients with higher preoperative anxiety scores. The prolonged operation time, reduced patient's cooperation and pain threshold may increase risk of possible complication during cataract surgery. Keywords : Topical anaesthesia, anxiety, visual analogue scale, patient’s cooperation, intraoperative pain