The effect of eye mask and selected music on the level of anxiety and hemodynamic parameters in patients undergoing cardiac angiography

Anxiety is common among patients undergoing coronary angiography.

The aim of this study was to examine the comparative effects of eye masks and music on anxiety levels and hemodynamic indices of patients undergoing coronary angiography. Setting and Design: This is a single-blind randomized clinical trial conducted on 300 patients undergoing coronary angiography.

Patients were recruited using convenience sampling and then randomly allocated to one of the four groups. Ten minutes before the coronary angiography, baseline anxiety levels were measured using the state-trait anxiety inventory. Patients’ hemodynamic indices were also measured and recorded immediately before they entered the cath-lab operating room, as soon as, they were in bed in the cath-lab operating room, 5 min after the start of coronary angiography, and immediately and 20 min after the completion of coronary angiography. Anxiety levels were measured again 20 min after coronary angiography. Statistical Analysis Used: All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 22 Software. Mean and SD indices were used. The normality of both overt and covert anxiety variables was confirmed using Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. The presence of intervening variables was examined using analysis of variance, the final analysis was performed using analysis of covariance. For all analyses, a P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

The mean scores on overt and covert anxiety decreased after intervention. A statistically significant difference was observed among the four groups on overt and covert anxiety (P < 0.001). Compared to before coronary angiography (P < 0.001) and routine care only group (P < 0.001), hemodynamic indices had a decreasing trend during coronary angiography in the intervention groups.

The results of the present study revealed that nonverbal, relaxing, and classical music significantly reduced anxiety and hemodynamic indices of patients undergoing coronary angiography. Future studies should examine the effectiveness of other music genres on anxiety and hemodynamic indices in patients undergoing coronary angiography.