This study aimed to provide an objective view of the relationship between the giving of information, anxiety and hospital admission. Previous research has suggested that patients are already anxious on admission to hospital and that any information given at this time may be forgotten easily or misunderstood. Forty patients listed for simple elective surgery participated in this study. Using an experimental design, subjects in the experimental group were interviewed and information given to them in their own home before admission and again on their first day in hospital. A state-trait anxiety questionnaire was used to compare both groups. The resultant difference in the anxiety level shown between both groups on admission was found to be significant