The Effectiveness of Improving Body Awareness Skills on Anxiety, Depression, and Quality of Life in Patients after Cardiac Surgery

 Anxiety and depression are prevalent in patients who have undergone cardiac surgery, both of which affect the quality of life (QOL). Undesirable QOL is associated with the exacerbation of disease severity. This study was conducted with the aim to assess the effect of body awareness improvement on QOL, anxiety, and depression among patients after cardiac surgery.

 This randomized, clinical trial was performed with intervention and control groups (two groups with three measurements). All patients who had undergone cardiac surgery in hospitals in Qazvin, Iran, during 2018-2019 comprised the statistical population of this study. After convenience sampling (50 patients with cardiac disease at least 1 month after their surgery), patients were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (25 individuals each). The measurement tools used were the Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scales (DASS-42) and MacNew QOL Questionnaire. Body awareness training was implemented twice a week for 6 weeks. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) in SPSS software.

 The study results showed that improving body awareness can reduce anxiety and depression, and enhance QOL significantly in patients after cardiac surgery (P < 0.01).

 The results showed that improving body awareness can effectively reduce anxiety and depression and enhance QOL in patients after cardiac surgery.