Examination of the anxiety level in patients undergoing transesophageal echocardiography.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to determine the levels of anxiety in patients with transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). METHODS The research was carried out at a university's Heart Hospital, echocardiography laboratory between the dates of January-October 2014. Data were collected with Patient Identification Form, State and Trait Anxiety Inventory. The level of state and trait anxiety was measured by Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Signed forms of consent for the study were obtained from patients after the ethics committee approval. Descriptive statistics, t-test, Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U test and Pearson correlation coefficient were used for statistical data analysis. RESULTS The study included 102 patients who were admitted to the cardiology department for TEE. The mean age of the patients was 44.12±16.86 years and 52.9% were men. About 46.5% of them graduated from primary school, 74.5% were married, and 52.0% has moderate income. Approximately half the patients reported that they had received information for TEE. State anxiety scores of patients ranged from 31 to 66 (mean±SD; 46.7±8.7), and their trait anxiety scores ranged from 28 to 52 (mean±SD; 44.4±4.3). Low educational level, female gender, and hospitalized patients' state anxiety point were very high and statistically significant. CONCLUSION Anxiety level should be determined in this patients, and appropriate nursing care should be done for high anxiety score patients.