Guided imagery relaxation therapy on preoperative anxiety: a randomized clinical trial.
Márcia Marques Dos Santos Felix, Maria Beatriz Guimarães Ferreira, Lucas Felix de Oliveira and 3 others
PMID 30517586WHAT IT FOUND
For patients waiting for laparoscopic bariatric surgery, a guided imagery relaxation audio lowered preoperative anxiety and cortisol more than resting with silent earphones.
Key findings
01Guided imagery relaxation therapy lowered state-anxiety scores more than standard care in the immediate preoperative period (p = 0.005).
02Blood cortisol fell more after guided imagery than after standard care (p <0.001).
03Only 24 of 53 eligible patients completed the trial, and 29 were lost.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only 24 of 53 eligible patients completed the trial, and 29 were lost, so the final sample was small and may not represent all bariatric surgery patients. The study was done in a single teaching hospital in Brazil and only included adults waiting for laparoscopic gastric bypass, so it may not apply to other surgeries, settings or patients who cannot hear the audio. The intervention combined guided imagery, relaxation breathing, background music and nature sounds, so the effect cannot be attributed to guided imagery alone. Cortisol was a secondary outcome, and the main conclusion rests on anxiety scores.
Declared interests
The study was supported by Brazilian public research agencies CAPES and FAPEMIG; no commercial sponsor is stated.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that guided imagery alone caused the reduction. The session also included relaxation breathing, background music and nature sounds, and only 24 of 53 eligible patients completed the trial.