The impact of relaxation using guided imagery techniques on the physiological changes associated with anxiety in the elderly undergoing cataract surgery

Visual acuity has an important role in the elderly’s communication with the environment. Cataract is a major cause of reduced visual acuity in the elderly, which can be treated only through surgery. Like in any other surgery, the elderly who should undergo cataract surgery experience a lot of anxiety. Relaxation techniques are of the procedures that can lead to stress reduction and create comfort and relaxated people. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the effect of guided imagery on pre-operation anxiety and hemodynamic factors in the elderly undergoing cataract surgery.
The present randomized clinical trial recruited 50 elderly patients undergoing cataract surgery who met the inclusion criteria in the period of August to December 2014 through purposive sampling from patients at Vasei Hospital in Sabzevar, Iran, and randomly assigned them to the case and control groups. The control group received routine care and the case group received guided imagery using an audio file. Spielberger’s anxiety inventory and checklist of physiological changes were used to collect data. The data were analyzed using statistical tests by SPSS 16 software at a desirable significance level, independent t tests, chi-square test, fisher exact test and ANOVA.
The mean of hemodynamic factors did not significantly differ in the two groups before intervention (p>0.05), but significantly reduced systole blood pressure (p Guided imagery can effectively reduce physiological responses of anxiety before surgery in the elderly. Hence, it is suggested that clinical nurses and nursing students use it for better nursing services.