The effects of preparatory information on anxiety levels during intravenous catheter insertion

Abstract

The .purpose of this study was to determine if structured sensory information, as a type of preparatory instruction, is more effective than standard preparatory information in reducing the level of state anxiety experienced by medical surgical patients during intravenous catheter insertion. The sample consisted of 34 adult subjec~s hospitalized in a 400 bed military medical center in the southeastern United States. The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI, Form Y-1) for state anxiety was the instrument used to measure state anxiety. The randomized post-test only design tested the following hypothesis: subjects ·receiving sensory information instruction prior to IV insertion will have lower state anxiety, as measured by the STAI Form Y-1, than those subjects receiving only standard preparatory information. Subjects were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n=l7) or the control group (n=l7). Prior to IV insertion all subjects listened to a pre-recorded audio-taped message consisting of either sensory or st~ndard preparatory information. Subjects were then asked to complete the STAI Form Y-1 for state anxiety. The t-test independent means procedure revealed no significant difference (p=.05) in the mean anxiety scores between the two groups. Therefore, the hypothesis was rejected. This finding indic~tes that in this study, the state anxiety levels of subjects receiving sensory information did not differ from the state anxiety levels of subjects receiving standard preparatory information only. Since this finding differs from most results reported in the literature, it would appear that further refinement of the sensory message related to IV insertion is warranted in view of the results of this study.