Three Enemies of Circadian Rhythm: Anxiety, Sleeplessness and Pain in Patients Following Open-Heart Surgery

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to determine the relationship between preoperative anxiety and postoperative pain and perioperative sleep quality in open-heart surgery patients.Methods: It was a cross-sectional study. The research sample included 126 patients who underwent open-heart surgery for the first time and remained in intensive care for a maximum period of 48 hours. All patients’ procedures were performed with cardiopulmonary bypass and sternotomy. Data were collected using a Patient Identification Form, developed by the researcher and used to determine patients’ characteristics; the Anxiety Specific to Surgery Questionnaire (ASSQ), used to determine patients’ anxiety level; the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), used to measure perioperative sleep quality, and the Numeric Pain Scale (NPS), used to determine postoperative pain levels.