Home Anesthesiology Handholding, Speaking to Patients Reduces Anxiety

Handholding, Speaking to Patients Reduces Anxiety

Findings in patients undergoing percutaneous vertebroplasty under local anesthesia

FRIDAY, Sept. 4, 2015 (HealthDay News) — For patients undergoing percutaneous vertebroplasty under local anesthesia, handholding and providing spoken information correlate with reduced patient anxiety, according to a study published online Sept. 1 in the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

Bong-Hee Kim, R.N., from Chosun University in Gwangju, South Korea, and colleagues conducted a study with a quasi-experimental design and a nonequivalent control group to examine the effects of handholding and spoken information for patients undergoing percutaneous vertebroplasty under local anesthesia. Ninety-four patients were included and assigned to either Experimental Group I (30 patients), who received handholding and spoken information; Experimental Group II (34 patients), who received handholding only; or a control group (30 patients).

The researchers found that, compared with Experimental Group II and the control group, Experimental Group I had lower psychological anxiety. Significant decreases in systolic blood pressure were seen in both experimental groups versus the control group.

“Handholding and spoken information provided during a surgical intervention to mitigate psychological anxiety, and handholding to mitigate physiological anxiety can be used in nursing interventions with patients undergoing percutaneous vertebroplasty,” the authors write.

Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Copyright © 2015 HealthDay. All rights reserved.