LEVEL OF ANXIETY AND FEAR IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING CORONARY ANGIOPLASTY

Background: Poor prognosis is the product of anxiety and stress in cardiac patients. Since very little quantification has been known about the level of anxiety in such patients undergoing revascularization procedures. The objective of this study is to evaluate the level of anxiety in patients undergoing coronary angiography or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) before and after the treatment and to identify associated variables causing anxiety. Methods: In this prospective cohort study 200 patients of Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore undergoing angioplasty (PCI) were enrolled during June 2019 and November 2019. Anxiety levels were measured using the self-reporting Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for anxiety with range 0 to 100. Scores were recorded at pre- and post-procedure interval. Results: 76.0% were male participants. The mean age of 52 ± 12 years. High scoring of anxiety was observed in males during pre-procedure time (47.2 ± 29.0 mm) whereas the female patients recorded even a higher pre procedure anxiety score (50.4 ± 26.5) than males. (p = 0.02). It was seen that age greater than 60 years was an independent variable associated with higher levels of anxiety along with lower educational status and primary PCI. Conclusion: It is concluded that female patients or those undergoing primary PCI with ages greater than 60 years and no formal educational status suffer higher level of anxiety before entering the catheterization lab. Proper pre-procedural counselling along with pharmacological interventions may help reduce anxiety in cardiac patients