Background: Delirium is one of the prevalent complications of post open heart surgery. The present research aimed to assess the effect of multi-component interventions on the incidence rate, severity, and duration of post open heart surgery delirium among hospitalized patients.
Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 96 patients under open heart surgery were selected using convenience sampling and divided into a control and an intervention group. The interventions included the patients' preoperative education, nurses' education, and in-ward environmental interventions. The demographic information and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) questionnaires were completed a day before surgery. The patients in both groups were also surveyed after extubation until the fourth day post operation using Delirium Observation Screening (DOS) scale considering the incidence, severity, and duration of delirium. The data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical software, version 20.
Results: The incidence rate of delirium was 14.6 and 6.2% in the control and intervention groups, respectively (p > 0.05). Besides, the mean severity of delirium was 0.53 in the control group and 0.40 in the intervention group (p > 0.05). Finally, the mean duration of delirium was 4.5 and 3.25 h in the two groups, respectively (p > 0.05).
Conclusions: Since prevention of delirium can play a considerable role in the patients' recovery after heart surgery, it is necessary to carry out some measures to prevent such complications. Even though the interventions performed in this study did not cause significant changes in this regard, the results suggested that prevention interventions should be performed with stronger and more integrated planning for achieving better outcomes.
Keywords: Delirium; Multi-component interventions; Nursing; Open heart surgery.