Patient psychologic preparation for invasive procedures: an integrative review.

If the physiologic symptoms of anxiety occur during a critical procedure, the length and difficulty of the procedure may be increased, inaccurate data may be obtained from the procedure, and physical harm may occur as a result. To avoid these negative outcomes, it would be beneficial to reduce the amount of anxiety felt by patients undergoing invasive procedures by psychologically preparing them for the procedure. Fourteen studies were found that examined the effects of different types of preparational treatment on the anxiety levels of patients undergoing procedures in the hospital.