The Effect of Health Teaching on the Anxiety Level of Patients With Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease

Abstract

An experimental study was conducted to measure the effects of a health teaching unit on the anxiety level of patients with chronic obstructive lung disease attending an out-patient chest clinic. The health teaching program was administered via an automated audio/slide unit in two sessions of thirty minutes each, using group interaction as one mean's and. nurse-patient interaction as the other. A third group served, as the control. The Institute for Personality and. Ability Testing (I PAT) Anxiety Scale was utilized to measure trait anxiety and the Affect Adjective Check List (AACL) was utilized to measure state anxiety. The research hypothesis that health teaching done in a small group by the professional nurse will result in a significant reduction of mean trait and state anxiety scores for individuals with chronic obstructive lung disease was not supported,. The subjects who received the health teach­ ing unit in a nurse-patient interaction had the lowest mean trait and state anxiety scores, indicating a trend toward, the preference of individual instruction over group instruction when the goal is reduced, anxiety. The highest I PAT anxiety scores were obtained, by the two smoking subjects in the group setting. This suggested, the possi­ bility of increased dissonance for subjects who smoke and viii are exposed to anti-smoking information in a group composed of smokers and. nonsmokers„