Progressive Muscle Relaxation and Anxiety Reduction among Cardiac Surgery Patients

Abstract

Heart surgery is a stressful life event. Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) can be implementing in nursing practice as an effective, complimentary therapy. Present study was undertaken with the objective of assessing the effect of PMR on anxiety level of valvular heart surgery patients. A randomized controlled trial was done and 65 adult patients were enrolled and randomly assigned 33 into the experimental group and 32 into control group. Hamilton anxiety rating scale was used. The experimental group was taught PMR, given an audio record and an instruction booklet and they advised to practice PMR at home. Post-test data collection was done at 2nd and 6th weeks following surgery. The anxiety score was reduced in both the group following surgery. But, at the 6th weeks, the anxiety of the experimental group was significantly low. Nurses can add PMR to cardiac rehabilitation to improve the clinical outcomes of patients.