Association Between Anxiety and Depression and Needs of Patient Families in Cardiovascular Surgery Intensive Care Unit

Objective: In this study, we primarily aimed to determine “needs” and “anxiety and depression symptom levels” among families of patients who were followed up in cardiovascular surgery intensive care unit (ICU). Furthermore, we sought to investigate the association of anxiety and depression with these needs. Material and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted with relatives of 99 patients who were hospitalized for minimum 24 and maximum 72 hours in cardiovascular surgery ICU. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Critical Care Family Need Inventory were applied. Percentages and averages were used in descriptive statistics. Moreover, t-test and One Way ANOVA tests were used for comparisons between the gender and relationship groups. Pearson’s two-way correlation analysis was used to determine the association between scores obtained from above mentioned scales. Results: The “anxiety” and “depression” subscale scores of female relatives were higher than those of male relatives. The “information” need scores of spouses were higher than those of other family members, and depression level scores of spouses were higher than those of non-consanguineous relatives. Moreover, “proximity/assurance” and “anxiety and depression” subscale scores were related. Conclusion: Patients’ relatives show high anxiety and depression symptoms and they strongly need proximity and assurance. Meeting these requirements may reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.