The effect of non-pharmacological measures on anxiety of colonoscopy candidates; A Systematic review

Colonoscopy is one of the endoscopic procedures in the lower gastrointestinal tract known to cause anxiety in patients. Treating anxiety is important because it can have adverse consequences in patients undergoing colonoscopy. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of nonpharmacologic interventions on the anxiety level of patients before colonoscopy.

For this review study, the databases CINAHL, Google Scholar, Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, SID, and Magiran were searched. Articles were searched using the keywords anxiety, anxiety before colonoscopy, nonpharmacologic interventions and colonoscopy. After a qualitative assessment, the studies were reviewed for relevance, and the desired outcomes were extracted.

In these studies, methods such as patient education and information, aromatherapy, massage therapy, music listening, and pre-colonoscopy counseling were presented as effective methods of nonpharmacological treatment of pre-colonoscopy anxiety.

The results of this study have shown that the use of various nonpharmacological methods, especially massage, music listening, and aromatherapy, is very effective and efficient in treating patients’ pre-colonoscopy anxiety and has a significant effect on reducing their anxiety. Moreover, the use of these methods leads to a reduction in the use of sedatives and the side effects caused by their use.