The Effect of Jaw Relaxation on Anxiety of Patients with Myocardial Infarction

Anxiety is one of the most common psychological responses of patients to cardiovascular events. Cardiovascular patients¡ particularly heart attack¡ experience a lot of anxiety¡ and anxiety disorder delays the recovery process. This study aimed to determine the effect of jaw relaxation on anxiety and sleep quality in patients with myocardial infarction.
This study was a quasi-experimental study. The population was patients with myocardial infarction referred to hospitals in Saveh in 2015. Patients were selected through purposive sampling (68 Persons) and were randomly allocated to two groups of intervention and control. In addition to the routine treatment of patients in the intervention group¡ jaw relaxation technique was trained and carried out and patients in the control group received only routine treatment. Data were collected through using individual characteristics form and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)¡ then analyzed by the SPSS 19 software.
The results showed that the mean and standard deviation of testable anxiety scores of the intervention and control groups before the intervention was 48.41 ± 6.35 and 42.47 ± 7.12¡ and there was no significant difference. While after jaw relaxation the mean and standard deviation of testable anxiety scores of intervention and control groups was 46.52 ± 6.6 and 46.47 ± 5.67¡ with a significant difference (P ≤ 0.001).
The results showed that the use of jaw relaxation techniques caused a significant reduction in the level of anxiety in patients with myocardial infarction. Nurses can use the simple and low-cost training of jaw relaxation that is independently performed by myocardial infarction patients to reduce anxiety.