Effects of timing and reinforcement of preoperative education on knowledge and recovery of patients having coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Studies of preoperative educational interventions with patients having cardiac surgery suggest that the life-threatening nature of this type of surgery impedes learning and undermines the effectiveness of preoperative education in the immediate preoperative period. In this study the effectiveness of preadmission preoperative education for patients having coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) was investigated. The sample consisted of 40 patients scheduled for an initial, elective CABG procedure. A randomized, experimental, posttest-only design was used. Subjects in the experimental group received both preadmission and postadmission preoperative education; those in the control group received only routine postadmission preoperative education. Outcome measures were (1) preoperative knowledge of CABG surgery and routine, (2) postoperative state anxiety, (3) postoperative mood state, and (4) physiologic recovery. Subjects in the experimental group had significantly higher preoperative knowledge levels, more positive mood states, and more favorable physiologic recoveries than those in the control group.