To investigate the preoperative attitude of surgical patients to regional anaesthesia, 162 subjects scheduled for elective surgery were studied. On the day before operation, patients were interviewed by an anaesthesiologist, using a semi-structured schedule. Topics investigated were sociodemographic variables and clinical correlates, such as past anaesthetic experience, information about anaesthesia and surgery, as well as questions and fears related to anaesthesia. Subjects were assessed for personality characteristics and emotional symptoms by Eysenck's Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), Zung's Self-rating Anxiety and Depression Rating Scales, Schalling-Sifneos' Personality Scale and the 43-item Life Events Inventory of Holmes and Rahe. Seventy-one patients (44%) consented to regional anaesthesia. Consent to regional anaesthesia was associated with advanced age, low neuroticism and high extroversion score in the EPQ, as well as longer duration of illness. The deniers of consent asked more questions and expressed more fears about anaesthesia. It is suggested that the patients' characteristics influence their preference, acceptance or refusal of regional anaesthesia.