The effect of nature sounds and earplugs on anxiety in patients following percutaneous coronary intervention: A randomized controlled trial

Percutaneous coronary interventions cause anxiety in patients, although these procedures are lifesaving.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of nature sounds and earplug interventions on the anxiety of patients after percutaneous coronary interventions.

A randomized controlled trial design was used in this study. A total of 114 patients who were scheduled to undergo percutaneous coronary intervention were allocated to three groups in a randomized manner: two intervention groups (nature sound group, earplug group) and one control group. The Visual Analog Scale, State Anxiety Inventory and physiological parameters were used to measure anxiety. Data were collected from the patients at three time points: immediately before, immediately after and 30 minutes after the interventions.

The respiratory rates and the Visual Analog Scale and State Anxiety Inventory scores of patients in the nature sound and earplug groups immediately after and 30 minutes after the interventions were significantly lower than those of the control group (p < 0.05). No differences were found when comparing respiratory rates, Visual Analog Scale scores and State Anxiety Inventory scores between patients in the nature sound group and patients in the earplug group (p > 0.05). No changes were observed in the pulse and systolic/diastolic blood pressure values of patients in the control and intervention groups (p > 0.05).

It was determined that nature sounds and earplug interventions are effective in reducing the anxiety of patients following percutaneous coronary intervention.