Effect of Sensory Perceptual Information on Anxiety Levels - Essay Example

This project paper outlines the problem, provides a comprehensive literature review, and describes the planned interventions that are designed to provide CABG patients with the sensory-perceptual information they need in order to reduce their level of anxiety and increase coping skills. The project will be carried out within a hospital setting, utilizing all patients undergoing CABG who are referred by the cardiac catheterization laboratory. Each intervention is described in detail. Interventions will include a 12-minute video presentation, an informational brochure, and informational sessions with the main researcher.

At the individual information session, the researcher will adopt the information presented to fit with the cultural background, linguistic preference, and health beliefs of the CABG patient. Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery is a procedure that uses a healthy blood vessel to create a bypass, an arterial bridge, that allows blood to be routed around a blocked or diseased artery ("Coronary bypass," 2010).

Typically the vessel used is taken from the patient's leg, although vessels from an arm, chest, or abdomen have also been used ("Coronary bypass," 2010). CABG restores normal blood flow to the heart, which produces a variety of beneficial effects, such as decreasing the risk for a heart attack. Furthermore, in many cases, the surgery reduces the symptoms being suffered by the patient, such as chest pain and shortness of breath. The principal goals of CABG are to alleviate the symptoms of angina, decrease heart attack risk and prolong and improve the quality of life (McKenzie, Simpson, and Stewart, 2010).

CABG is a procedure that is widely performed in all developed countries. The American Heart Association reported in 2005 that the annual procedure rate in the US was over 515,000 (Gallagher and McKinley, 2009). The procedure has a relatively low mortality rate and has been proven to effectively alleviate the symptoms of angina (Gallagher and McKinley, 2009). Nevertheless, psychological problems, such as the development of anxiety and depression, have been widely reported in connection with patients who have undergone CABG surgery; and, it has been found that these psychological problems are often long-term, as research reports that anxiety and depression are evident in roughly one-fifth of CABG patients a year following the surgery (McKenzie, Simpson and Stewart, 2010).

Problems with psychological adjustment can lead to adverse events. These adverse coronary events may include further hospitalization and even an increased incidence of mortality (McKenzie, Simpson and Stewart, 2010).