Determination of information needs of patients with open heart operation and anxiety levels after discharge

ABSTRACT DETERMINATION of INFORMATION NEEDS of PATIENTS with OPEN HEART OPERATION and ANXIETY LEVELS AFTER DISCHARGE This descriptive study was operated at the Medical Park Hospital Cardiovascular Surgery Department planned in order to determine the anxiety levels and information needs of patients who underwent open heart surgery. Heart Diseases, as stated in the World Health Organization (WHO) report; have been causing the death of 17.5 million individuals per year. In cardiovascular diseases, besides medication, various surgical treatments are also applied. Surgical interventions, such as open heart surgery, are an important experience that affects the patient physically, psychologically, socially and economically. Therefore, this requires a balance between the new arrangements that the patient has brought after the discharge and the activities of daily living, which can only be achieved by providing good counseling and good post-discharge education. This study was planned to determine the information needs and anxiety levels of patients with open heart surgery after discharge. The average age of the patients participating in the study was 58.45 ± 10.07. According to the sexes, when the mean scores of total and subscale scores of GRIE were compared, it was found that the knowledge requirements of women were higher in all subscales and total scores than boys. The differences between the groups were statistically significant (p = 0.005). The average age of the patients was p = 0.000), treatment and complications (p = 0,003), quality of life (p = 0.05). It was found that the information needs of the married patients were higher in the community and follow-up subscale than the bachelors, and the difference between the groups was significant (p = 0.02). The relationship between the learning needs of the patients' quality of life items and the state anxiety levels was significant (p = 0.05). It is recommended that the learning needs be determined before the discharge training is given and that the training program should be arranged in line with the requirements determined.