Postoperative Consequences of Fear and Anxiety in Open Heart Surgery: A Comparative Analysis of Two Patient Groups.
Ebru Dizdar, Aşkin Kiliç, Semiha Alkan Kayhan and 2 others
PMID 41504517WHAT IT FOUND
Referral and nonreferral cardiac surgery patients had similar postoperative pain and similar preoperative anxiety and fear.
In referral patients, fear was linked to pain, and anxiety was linked to discharge time, but no treatment was tested.
Key findings
01The referral and nonreferral groups did not differ significantly in postoperative pain on days 0, 1, or 2, or in median preoperative anxiety and surgical fear scores.
02Referral patients without gastrointestinal-related complications and referral patients with lung-related complications had significantly higher preoperative fear than corresponding nonreferral patients.
03Higher anxiety was associated with higher surgical fear in both groups, and with shorter discharge time in both groups; in the referral group, higher fear was also associated with higher pain.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study included 96 patients from one hospital in one geographical region of Turkey, so the results should not be generalized beyond that population. It was a descriptive comparison, not a trial of an intervention, so it cannot show that reducing fear or anxiety changes pain, complications, or discharge. Some significant findings were subgroup or correlation results, not the main between-group comparison.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that referral patients have worse postoperative pain or anxiety, or that reducing fear will reduce pain and complications. The main between-group comparison was null, and the significant findings are correlations or subgroup comparisons, not evidence of a treatment effect.