Investigation of post-traumatic stress disorders and depression levels in patients with open heart surgery

It is considered to be very important to investigate the psychological reflections of heart surgeries which are necessary for the treatment of heart conditions increasing day by day. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the ratio of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression levels in patients who had open-heart surgery. The sample of the research consists of 100 adults (40 women and 60 men, aged between 35-92) who had undergone open-heart surgery in Batman Regional State Hospital between May and November 2019. Participants were identified through purposeful sampling. Patients who applied to the cardiovascular surgery clinics for a follow-up visit 1 month after the surgery were given an "Informed written consent", " Impact of Event Scale-revised (IES-R)", and "Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)". The study was designed according to the correlational survey method. As a result of the study, it was seen that in the individuals who had undergone open-heart surgery both the rate of meeting the possible PTSD diagnosis and the level of possible depression were 73.0%. It was observed that as the participants' level of negative emotions increased before the operation, the level of traumatic stress increased. Additionally, it was observed that as the level of traumatic stress increased, the post-operative pain level has also increased. When examined in terms of depression, it was observed that the level of depression increased as the level of education decreased, and as the negative emotion levels before the surgery and age increased. It has been observed that individuals with a chronic disease other than heart disease have higher depression. It has been observed that adults who have undergone open-heart surgery developed post-traumatic stress disorder and depression which adversely affect the healing process. Recognition of psychological disorders that will develop after surgery and training of all health professionals about what to do are the main results of this study. Besides, informing patients and the people who will support their care during the pre and post-operative period is extremely important in terms of healing. Keywords: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, Coronary Artery Disease, Open Heart Surgery