Patient anxiety before cardiac catheterization: an intervention study.

It was established by 30 open-ended interviews that patients experience much anxiety during the waiting time on the day of cardiac catheterization. Seventy-two patients were observed before cardiac catheterization. Twenty-four patients received an educational intervention, 24 patients received a social intervention, and 24 patients served as a control group. It was found that both the educational and social intervention groups had a significant decrease in anxiety as measured by a standardized scale when compared with the nonintervention (control) group. Social intervention was as effective as educational intervention in reducing anxiety. Decreases in anxiety level were not attributable to patients' coping styles.