The Effect of Informing Patient Relatives with a Short Message on Anxiety Levels during Cardiovascular Surgery in Türkiye: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Surgical procedures cause a certain level of anxiety in the relatives of the patients, it has been observed that heart surgeries cause more anxiety.

Aim: To determine the effects of informing patients' relatives with short messages on anxiety levels during cardiovascular surgery.

Methods: The study was conducted as a randomized controlled research investigation from October 1, 2015, to December 31, 2022, at the cardiovascular surgery operating room of a university hospital and included 84 patient relatives (42 experimental and 42 control group). The Patient Relatives Information Form and the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory were used to collect the study data. The patients' relatives in the experimental group were informed by short messages (preparations for surgery have begun, your relative's surgery has started, your relative's surgery is still ongoing, and your relative's surgery is completed) during the surgery. State Anxiety Inventory was re-administered to all patients' relatives after cardiovascular surgery. The study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05157789).

Results: It was found that the postoperative State Anxiety Inventory score of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.001). The difference between preoperative and postoperative state anxiety scores was significantly higher in the experimental group (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Informing the patients' relatives with a short message during cardiovascular surgery significantly reduced the level of anxiety.