The Effect of Hypnotherapeutic Ego Strengthening with Female Spouses of South African Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery Patients

Abstract

In addition to exacerbating morbidity in male coronary artery bypass surgery (CABS) patients, their plight can also impose considerable strain on their female spouses' mood states, resulting in compromised quality of life. The current study was aimed at determining the impact of pre postoperative hypnotherapeutic ego strengthening (HES) on anxiety and depression in female spouses. It was conducted simultaneously with a recently published study of their CABS husbands' response to HES. Spouses whose husbands had been randomly assigned to an experimental group, were designated the experimental spouse group (n = 25) and spouses whose husbands constituted the control group, likewise comprised the control spouse group (n = 25). Assessment occurred preoperatively, on the day of discharge and at six week follow-up. Spouses in the experimental group (n = 25) were introduced to hypnotherapeutic ego strengthening (HES), pre and postoperatively. In the postoperative assessment experimental female spouses showed significantly reduced morbidity levels, which were maintained at follow-up. In contrast, females in the control group (n = 25) showed no change. The results supported the value of brief hypnotherapy as a means of psychologically empowering spouses whose husbands' were undergoing CABS.