Effect of Video Assisted Breathing Technique on Preoperative Anxiety Among Patients Undergoing Elective Surgeries in a Secondary Hospital in Chümoukedima, Nagaland, India

INTRODUCTION: Surgery is a traumatic treatment and the preoperative period is a stressful event. This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of Video Assisted Breathing Technique on preoperative anxiety among patients undergoing elective surgery. METHODS: A quasi-experimental study was conducted among patients undergoing elective surgery at surgical, labour and private wards of a secondary hospital. Using a non-probability purposive sampling technique, 40 participants were recruited who were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Video Assisted Breathing Technique and the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS) were used as the study intervention and data collection instrument. T-test for paired and unpaired samples were used to determine the difference in the anxiety scores. Fisher’s exact test was used to find the association of anxiety with the demographic and clinical variables. RESULTS: Majority of the participants were found to have mild [14(35%)] to moderate [19(48%)] preoperative anxiety. There was a statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test anxiety scores in the experimental group (p<0.05) while there was no significant difference between the experimental and control groups (p value >0.05). Significant association was found between the anxiety level with previous experience of surgery (p 0.041, f=6.083, df=2) and the number of past surgery (p= 0.048, f=8.191, df=4). CONCLUSION: Video Assisted Breathing Technique was found to be effective in reducing preoperative anxiety in the experimental group of patients undergoing elective surgeries. It is thus recommended for nurses to utilize evidence-based non-pharmacological interventions for reducing patients’ anxiety in the preoperative period.