The Impact of Family Centered Care on Depression, Anxiety and Stress of Family Caregivers of Patients Undergoing Open Heart Surgery

Hospitalization at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) often leads to some psychiatric problems in the family of the patient. This study aimed at determining the effect of family-centered care on depression¡ anxiety and stress of family caregivers of open-heart surgery patients from admission to discharge.
In this randomized clinical trial¡ 45 caregivers from patients’ families were selected based on convenience sampling method and were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received routine hospital information as well as informational and emotional care¡ from the day before the surgery to 24 hours before discharge from the hospital. On the other hand¡ the control group received only routine information. Depression¡ anxiety and stress rates of the caregivers in both groups were assessed by the DASS21 Questionnaire before the surgery and 24 hours before discharge. To analyze the data¡ chi-square tests¡ t-test and paired t-test were used.
The findings indicated that both groups were homogeneous in demographic characteristics. The mean score of depression¡ anxiety and stress in the control group on the day before the surgery was 7.27 ± 4.8¡ 9.50 ± 5.8¡ and 11.54 ± 4.7¡ respectively. In the experimental group¡ the rate of depression¡ anxiety¡ and stress were found to be 6.52 ± 3.4¡ 10.73 ± 3.6¡ and 11.69 ± 3.6¡ respectively. The results showed that in both groups¡ there was a decrease in the amount of these three variables 24 hours before hospital discharge. However¡ the amount of decrease was statistically significant in the experimental group (P > 0.001).
According to the results¡ family-centered care reduced depression¡ anxiety and stress in families with ICU patients¡ 24 hours before discharge compared to the admission day. Thus¡ this method can be used for family caregivers during hospitalization of their patients.