The effect of listening to the voice recording of relatives on chest pain, anxiety and depression in patients hospitalized in the coronary intensive care unit: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: After acute myocardial infarction, the prevalence of anxiety and depression is quite high in patients because of severe chest pain, distance from relatives, unfamiliar environment and orientation problems.

Aim: To assess the effect of listening to the voice recordings of relatives of patients with acute myocardial infarction who were treated in the coronary intensive care unit (ICU) on chest pain, anxiety and depression parameters of the patients.

Study design: In the study, which was conducted as a randomized controlled trial, voice recordings of the family members of the patients were created and played to the patients through a music pillow. The study was carried out with 60 patients, 30 experimental and 30 control groups. Three tests were applied to the patients 15 min before, and 15 and 30 min after the application. The data of the study were collected using the Patient Introduction Form, Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, Visual Analogue Scale and Patient Follow-up Form.

Results: It was found that there was a significant decrease in the anxiety level of the patients in the intervention group after listening to the audio recording (p < .001, 95% CI: -3.796; -0.070). However, there was no significant difference between the pain and depression scores of the control and intervention groups (p > .05).

Conclusions: In the ICUs of patients with acute myocardial infarction, it may be recommended to play audio recordings of their relatives to reduce the severity of anxiety.

Relevance to clinical practice: In the intensive care setting, the use of voice recordings of relatives can be used as an effective, non-pharmacological intervention to reduce anxiety in patients with acute myocardial infarction. This approach may potentially improve overall recovery by reducing patient anxiety in the intensive care setting.