Effectiveness of a Nursing Intervention to Diminish Preoperative Anxiety in Patients Programmed for Knee Replacement Surgery: Preventive Controlled and Randomized Clinical Trial.
Mauricio Medina-Garzón
PMID 31487444WHAT IT FOUND
Knee surgery patients who received nursing information and usual care plus three motivational interviews had lower anxiety than those who received nursing information and usual care.
Anxiety scores fell by 4.2 points versus 1.73 points.
Key findings
01At the post-intervention assessment, the group that also received motivational interviews had a mean preoperative anxiety score 5 points lower than the control group.
02The anxiety score fell by 4.2 points in the group that also received motivational interviews and by 1.73 points in the control group over the study period.
03Across both assessment times, the groups differed by 3.1 points on average.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The trial analysed 55 patients at one specialised clinic, so the result may not apply to other settings or surgeries. Recruitment was limited to patients aged 50 to 75 scheduled for knee replacement, so it says nothing about younger or older patients or other operations. The authors reported only one researcher was available and said selection bias could not be ruled out. Both groups received nursing information about surgery, and the control group also received usual treatment, so the effect of the motivational interview cannot be separated from those components. The main result rests on a six-item questionnaire anxiety score.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the motivational interview alone caused the anxiety reduction. Both groups received nursing information about the surgery and procedure, and the control group also received usual treatment, so the separate contribution of the interview cannot be separated.