Determination of Anxiety and Comfort Levels of Patients Who Underwent Fiberoptic Bronchoscopy: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the anxiety and comfort levels of outpatients who underwent fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Method: This cross-sectional study was performed between January-December 2018 in a bronchoscopy unit of a Training and Research Hospital in Ankara. A total of 173 patients who underwent bronchoscopy for the first time were included in the study by purposeful sampling method. The data were obtained by using ”Personal Information Form”, “State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-I)” and Perianesthesia Comfort Scale (PACS)”. The Personal Information Form and the STAI-I were filled out before the bronchoscopy and the PACS after the bronchoscopy procedures by face-to-face interviews. Results: Study population with a mean age of 54.68±16.64 years consisted mostly (72.8%) of male patients. In the present study, mean STAI-I, and PACS scores of the patients were 43.51±5.67, and 5.20±0.43 points, respectively. Mean STAI-I scores of female, and male participants were 41.93±5.73 and 44.06±5.56 points, respectively with a statistically significant intergroup difference (p=0.03). The PACS scores of female, and male participants were 4.99±0.57 and 5.24±0.37 points, respectively with a statistically significant intergroup difference (p=0.001). After the procedure, choking, cough and sore throat were the most common symptoms. Conclusion: It was determined that patients who underwent bronchoscopy had generally experienced anxiety but their comfort was good. Male patients had more anxiety, but female patients had lower levels of comfort. To reduce the level of anxiety due to bronchoscopy; nursing interventions should be planned according to the individual characteristics of the patients.