The effect of education on pre-operative anxiety in patients undergoing extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.

Background: The period before diagnostic and therapeutic procedures is associated with increased anxiety levels in patients due to a lack of sufficient information. This study aimed to determine the effect of education on physiological and psychological anxiety levels in patients before extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL).

Materials And Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted at Baharloo Hospital in Tehran on 122 patients, and the samples were selected in two stages. In the first stage, the samples were selected using convenience sampling. In the second stage, they were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. The data were collected using demographic information and Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory to measure psychological anxiety. Salivary cortisol was measured to evaluate physiological anxiety by both groups before the intervention and entering the room. The intervention group received the information before ESWL via face-to-face lectures and the broadcast of pre-recorded lecture videos. The control group received only the usual care in the ward. The data analysis was performed by SPSS version 25 using descriptive statistics that included the calculation of mean, standard deviation, and frequency distribution and inferential statistics (independent -test, paired -test ANOVA, and Chi-square test).

Results: There was no significant difference in demographic characteristics between the intervention and control groups ( > 0.05). A significant decrease in the mean salivary cortisol level was found in the intervention group compared with the control group ( < 0.001). The anxiety level was markedly decreased in the intervention group compared with the control group ( < 0.001).

Conclusion: Adequately informing patients before ESWL could decrease patients' physiological and psychological anxiety levels. So, people in the field of nursing education can take an important step towards using this method and reducing the anxiety of patients. The existence of such videos and holding training sessions can be a suitable solution for educating the patient.