The Effect of Visualized Meditation on Anxiety, Pain, and Comfort in Patients Undergoing Colonoscopy

University of Gaziantep72 enrolled

Overview

Colonoscopy is one of the most frequently performed procedures for the early diagnosis and treatment of intestinal diseases and plays a crucial role in the diagnosis and treatment of lower gastrointestinal disorders. However, for many patients, colonoscopy is considered an invasive, highly painful, and extremely uncomfortable procedure. Furthermore, the anxiety and fear felt before the procedure can affect patients in many ways. These negative feelings can disrupt patient comfort and cause the pain to become even more severe.

Meditation and visualization exercises have been found to alter an individual's mood and perception. Recent neuroscience literature suggests that meditation practices alter brain chemistry, structure, and function more permanently. Meditation facilitates increased selective attention, which increases the ability to silence unwanted outcomes while focusing on a specific outcome, and reduces activity in the amygdala, which is associated with the production of fear and anxiety. Guided meditation with background music is effective in increasing attention, reducing stress, and therefore improving mental health. Visualization is the conscious control of mental imagery. Imagery often plays a fundamental role not only in experiencing reality but also in creating it. In this context, it can be argued that visualized meditation may also allow for the reshaping of perceived reality, such as anxiety and pain, and reduce their negative effects on the patient. This study was conducted to determine the effects of visualized meditation on anxiety, pain, and comfort in patients undergoing colonoscopy.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Interventions

Visualized meditation groupOTHER

In the study, the experimental group will listen to visualized meditation sessions daily, morning and evening, for three days before the colonoscopy. On the morning of the colonoscopy, patients will be administered a personal information form, STAI1-2, pain scale, and comfort scale. After the procedure, the patients will be taken to the recovery area and will be administered the STAI1-2, pain scale, and comfort scale again.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients over the age of 18, with no hearing impairment, * Submitting a colonoscopy for the first time, * Not diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder and therefore not taking medication, * Willing to participate in the study Exclusion Criteria: * Patients who refused to participate in the study, underwent a colonoscopy for biopsy, or underwent deep sedation. * Patients who volunteered to participate and then wished to withdraw from the study at any stage.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

VAS Pain and Comfort Scale

This scale was developed by Price and colleagues (1983). It is used to measure subjective pain and comfort levels. The scale is represented by a 10-cm line representing the lowest and highest pain scores (0: no pain/discomfort, 10: most intolerable pain/discomfort).

Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 months

The State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)

The State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), developed by Spielberger et al. in 1964, will be used to measure anxiety in this study. The scale has two dimensions: the STAI-S, which measures state anxiety, and the STAI-T, which measures trait anxiety. The STAI-S and STAI-T each consist of 20 items. Items 1-40 on the scale measure anxiety in four ways. The lowest score for both dimensions of the scale is 20, and the highest score is 80. As the score increases, the level of anxiety also increases.