Postoperative Consequences of Fear and Anxiety in Open Heart Surgery: A Comparative Analysis of Two Patient Groups

Background: Patients undergoing open heart surgery may experience negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, panic, and anger in the preoperative period that may negatively affect their postoperative recovery. Purpose: This study was designed to compare the effects of preoperative fear and anxiety on postoperative pain and complications in a referral group and on a non-referral group. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted at a cardiovascular surgery hospital in Turkey from July 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, on 96 patient participants. The referral group ( n = 48) comprised patients who were diagnosed in another hospital and received cardiovascular surgery at our hospital, while the non-referral group ( n = 48) comprised patients who received their angiography and cardiovascular surgery in our hospital. A Personal Information Form, Surgical Fear Questionnaire, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory were administered to all of the participants in the preoperative period. In the postoperative period, pain levels were determined using the Visual Analog Scale, and complications were recorded. Results: No statistically significant difference were found in the overall occurrence of complications between the two groups ( p > .05). However, those in the referral group who developed lung-related complications exhibited significantly higher levels of surgical fear ( p < .05). No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of length of stay in the intensive care unit, length of intubation, length of mobilization, length of hospitalization, pain levels, or mean anxiety and surgical fear scores ( p > .05). A significantly positive relationship was observed between anxiety and surgical fear levels in both groups ( p < .05). Conclusions/Implications for Practice: The results indicate neither the timing of surgical treatment decision nor preoperative fear and anxiety are associated with postoperative pain and certain complications. However, a significant relationship was detected between preoperative anxiety and surgical fear. No relationship between the way patients are taken to surgery and levels of anxiety and surgical fear or postoperative complications was found. The literature should be further expanded by conducting different studies on this subject.