Evaluating the effect of planned online video visits on COVID-19 patients' anxiety and stress levels: A randomized clinical trial.

Abstract

Background: One of the patients' support needs during hospitalization is visits, which are usually associated with many restrictions for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Implementing as planned online video visits to communicate with the patients and their family may help reduce psychological complications.

Materials and method: This study was a randomized clinical trial with two groups from April 2022 to August 2022. Sixty patients were randomly divided into intervention and control groups, each with 30 individuals, based on a sequence from SPSS and using sealed envelopes for assignment. Then, in the intervention group, a video call was made in the morning, evening, and night shifts and once in each shift for 10-15 minutes between the patient and the family by the researcher's tablet in the ward and the patient's family's smartphone at home. The demographic information questionnaire and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21) were completed before and 48 hours after the patient's hospitalization. Statistical analysis was conducted with SPSS version 20 utilizing both descriptive and inferential techniques alongside the paired t-test for within-group comparisons and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality assessment. All tests were evaluated with a 95% confidence interval and a significance level set at 0.05.

Results: Initially, no significant differences were noted in anxiety and stress scores between the intervention and control groups. Later, post-test results showed significantly lower mean anxiety scores in the intervention group compared to the control both for anxiety and stress.

Conclusion: The researchers advocate for the adoption of virtual visitation as an effective measure to facilitate visual communication between patients and their family members, aiming to enhance patient well-being by alleviating anxiety and stress.