Effects of Breathing Exercises Applied to Coronary Angiography Patients on Anxiety, Pain, and Vital Signs: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Introduction: Coronary angiography patients may experience pain and anxiety due to the invasiveness of the procedure and its involvement with a vital organ such as the heart. This study was conducted to determine the effects of breathing exercises on pain, anxiety, and vital signs in patients who underwent coronary angiography.
Methods: The study was conducted as a single-blind randomized controlled trial between September and November 2024. Patients in the intervention group performed breathing exercises in accordance with the application protocol 30 min before the coronary angiography. Patients in the control group were only given standard treatment and care. Data on anxiety and vital signs were assessed before and after the intervention, and pain levels data were collected after the intervention.
Results: The study was finished with 87 patients (43 in the control group and 44 in the intervention group). After the breathing exercise intervention, the post-test results showed that the pain levels, blood pressure, and anxiety levels of patients in the intervention group were lower than those in the control group (p<0.05). The results of the mixed-design analysis of variance test for repeated measures showed that the mean scores for blood pressure, pulse rate, and anxiety levels were significantly affected by the group-time interaction (p<0.001).
Discussion and Conclusion: The results of this research show that the breathing exercises applied reduce pain and anxiety in patients and have a positive effect on vital signs. The importance of the routine application of breathing exercises in angiography clinics is also demonstrated.

Keywords: Anxiety; Breathing exercises; Coronary angiography; Nursing; Pain; Vital signs