The Effect of Spiritual Care on Depression in Patients Following Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

摘要

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a nurse-delivered spiritual care intervention on depression following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. A semi-experimental study was performed in Baqiyatallah al-Azam Military Hospital of Tehran, Iran in 2013. Sixty-eight patients undergoing coronary artery grafts were purposefully selected and randomly assigned into the intervention ( n = 34) and control (usual care) groups ( n = 34). The intervention group received five sessions of spiritual care lasting between 45–60 minutes using the approach of Bergin Richards (2005). The control group received only routine standard care. The mean depression scores were measured using the depression subscale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21). At baseline ( p = 0.051), there were no differences in the mean depression scores. Post intervention, statistically significant differences were observed in the mean depression scores between groups ( p 0.001). The results showed that the use of spiritual care can decrease depression in the intervention group. These findings suggested that nurses could use spiritual care to improve psychological care.