Introduction: Anxiety and stress are common problems in patients undergoing invasive medical procedures. Anxiety before upper gastrointestinal endoscopy may have adverse consequences and can sometimes hamper successful completion of the procedure.

Aim: To investigate the effects of adding an information video or detailed verbal information to our usual preprocedural information.

Material and methods: Four hundred and forty gastrointestinal endoscopy patients were randomly assigned to video (226) or verbal information (214) groups. Patients in the video group watched a 10-minute-long video about the necessity of the endoscopic procedure, doctor and patient cooperation, and possible complications, emphasizing the possible feelings the patients might experience. The patients' situational anxiety was measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory’s two scales (STAI-State and STAI-Trait). Patients rated pain and overall satisfaction related to the procedure.

Results: There was a significant difference between the patient groups after endoscopy, in favor of the video group, when the answers to the STAI-S questions “the procedure was similar to what was explained” and “it was worse than what was ex­plained” were evaluated (p = 0.003, p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively).

Conclusions: It can be concluded that information by video helps reduce the anxiety of the patient, increases patient satisfaction and the patient is much more readily convinced to undergo another procedure, in cases where a control is needed.