Efficacy of the Simulation-Based Education Approach Enhanced by Music on Anxiety, Physical Activity, and Respiratory Outcomes in Patients under Open Heart Surgery: A Randomized Three-Group Clinical Study.

Background: Many patients with advanced cardiovascular disease need Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery, indicating the importance of cardiac rehabilitation. Our study explored the combined efficacy of simulation (using demonstration and return-demonstration approach) with music on post-Open Heart Surgery (OHS) outcomes.

Materials and methods: This randomized, controlled trial was conducted at Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad, Iran, on 90 patients awaiting OHS. The participants were allocated to 3 groups: education via simulation, education via simulation enhanced by instrumental music, and conventional instruction. Evaluations were performed pre-education and 2-days post-surgery using the activity measure for post-acute care (AM-PAC) "6-Clicks" Questionnaire, 18-item Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC) index, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). JASP software (JASP Team, 2023, Version 0.17.3) was employed for statistical analyses, using RM-ANOVA and ANCOVA test.

Results: The results revealed a significant effect in immediate post-intervention and 2-day follow-up periods across all outcome measures (all p < 0.05), except for activity. Post hoc tests demonstrated substantial variations in effect sizes between intervention and control groups. Both intervention groups had significantly greater impact than the control group, particularly the composite group, showing heightened effects in state and trait anxiety and respiratory scores (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: The combined use of the simulation with rhythmic music in phase one cardiac rehabilitation notably improved post-surgical outcomes, outperforming the method without music. This approach shows promise as an effective instructional strategy in cardiac rehabilitation stages.