Effect of Anxiety on Individuals and Caregivers After Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Surgery: A Review of the Literature.

Background: Coronary artery bypass graft surgery is the most frequently performed heart surgery on adults in the United States and often results in increased anxiety in patients and their caregivers as they attempt to cope with the process of open heart surgery.

Objective: This article is a comprehensive literature review examining the current information available to health care professionals about the relationship between preoperative anxiety and postoperative surgical outcomes in patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Methods: Research articles from peer-reviewed sources from 2000 to present were retrieved from CINAHL Plus, EBSCOhost, and Internet search engine Google Scholar, as well as from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute databases. Articles dating back to 2000 were included because of specificity of the topic.

Results: Research related to this particular situation supports the relationship between preoperative anxiety and negative postoperative outcomes for patients and their caregivers. However, limitations were identified during the course of the review, and further research on this particular relationship is warranted.

Discussion: The review of literature identified that preoperative anxiety increased the risk of poor postoperative outcomes including atrial fibrillation, acute myocardial infarction, increased risk of readmission, increased morbidity and mortality, increased health care utilization, and increased anxiety in caregivers resulting in role strain and frustration.