The effect of telenursing service provided for patients had coronary artery bypass grafting on depression, anxiety and stress levels

Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the impact of the post-discharge telenursing service, for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) patients, on the level of depression, anxiety and stress. Method: The research was conducted at Akdeniz University, Clinic of Cardiovascular Surgery using a single-blind randomized controlled trial with intervention and control groups between August 2016 and June 2017. The sample of the survey consisted of 55 intervention patients and 55 control patients. Ethics committee approval, institutional review board and patients' informed consent were received. The data were collected through personal information form and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-42) with face-to-face interviews. DASS-42 was applied to intervention group during hospitalization, discharge and first and second follow-ups; phone call protocol was followed at the first day; first, second and third week after discharge. Control group also received DASS-42 during hospitalization, discharge, first and second follow-ups. The data were evaluated with numbers, percentage, average, standard deviation, Pearson's chi-square, Shapiro–Wilk test, t-test, variance analysis and correlation analysis using IBM SPSS 23.0 and SAS 9.4; and it was found significant as p<0.05. Results: Average scores of stress (6.46) during hospitalization and anxiety (7.87) and depression (6.35) during discharge were found to be the highest level. It was detected that depression average scores (1.15) at the lowest level during hospitalization showed a significant increase during discharge. It was found that depression, anxiety and stress scores of the intervention group patients who had CABG and received telenursing service after discharge decreased compared to the control group and these differences were found statistically significant (p.0.05). Conclusion: It was determined that levels of depression, anxiety and stress of the intervention group patients who received phone counselling decreased by comparison with the control group.