Effects of positive self-talk on the level of anxiety of patients with coronary heart disease

Abstract

Background: Coronary heart disease has an impact on the psychological aspect of the patients, including anxiety responses. Anxiety responses can be reduced with the positive self-talk technique. This study aims to analyze the effect of positive self-talk in reducing the anxiety level of patients with coronary heart disease. Methods: The study was a pre-experimental design with a single group pretest-posttest on 55 patients with coronary heart disease treated at Siti Khodijah Muhammadiyah Hospital in Sepanjang, Sidoarjo, Indonesia. The Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS/ SRAS) was used to collect data. Results: Among 55 patients, most of the patients were in the age range of 58-64 years old (25 patients, 46.7 %), unemployed (22 patients, 40 %), and high school level of education (29 patients, 52.8 %). The pre-test data showed that dominant patients experience moderate anxiety (51 patients, 93.3 %). At the same time, the post-test results showed a decrease in anxiety levels to mild anxiety (50 patients, 93.3 %). There were significant differences between pre-test and post-test (p=0.001). Conclusion: Positive self-talk exerts a significant action in reducing the anxiety levels of patients with coronary heart disease.