Journal of

Introduction: Anxiety and depression are among major problems encountered by most patients after cardiac surgery. They can have serious consequences for patients’ quality of life, physical and psychological morbidity, and follow-up treatments. Accordingly, the present study was conducted to determine the status of depression and the associated factors in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients hospitalized in cardiac surgery ward of Imam Reza Hospital of Mashhad in 2013.

Methods: The current investigation is a descriptive, cross-sectional study for which all patients undergoing CABG surgery were selected using the census method. The subjects included inpatients hospitalized in Imam Reza (AS) Hospital of Mashhad from April 2013 to March 2014. The data was collected using the demographic characteristics form as well as Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Analysis of data was conducted with SPSS (version 16) using paired t-test, independent t-test, ANOVA and Pearson correlation coefficient. The significance level was set at P<0.05.

Results: The mean score of depression after cardiac surgery was 31.5±10.60 and 29.3±10.55 for male and female patients, respectively. From among the patients, 64.4% suffered from severe depression after surgery, while 32.1% had moderate depression. No statistically significant relationship was found between age, sex, marital status, employment status, and education level on the one hand and post-operative depression score on the other hand.

Conclusions: As regards the high rates of pre-surgical and post-surgical depression in patients undergoing CABG, effective communication with patients and patient training are recommended as critical components of nursing care to reduce depression.