Prevalence, Defining Characteristics, and Related Factors of the Nursing Diagnosis of Anxiety in Hospitalized Medical-Surgical Patients

Purpose: To document the prevalence of the nursing diagnosis of anxiety in hospital patients, based on its level of severity, defining characteristics (DCs), and other related factors, and to identify the key DCs that serve as predictors of clinically significant anxiety (CSA). Design: Cross-sectional study. We enrolled 116 consecutive adult patients hospitalized from October 10 to 16, 2016, in medical-surgical wards within the first 48 hr of admission. Methods: The potential DCs and related factors of anxiety were collected based on the NANDA International terminology. Anxiety was considered clinically significant when presenting at moderate, severe, or panic level. The differences in DC prevalence among patients having or not having CSA were analyzed by unpaired student's t-test. Multivariate analysis was used to examine the independent association between the DCs and CSA. Findings: The prevalence of CSA was 36.2% and was significantly higher in patients who were older, female, and taking anxiolytic drugs, and among those who had cancer. The most frequent related factor for CSA was major change in health status. In the logistic regression, the presence of the DCs helplessness, altered attention or concentration, and anguish independently increased the odds of having CSA, whereas subjects presenting with Diminished ability to problem-solve had about a 96% reduction in the likelihood to suffer from such a condition. Conclusions: A high prevalence of CSA among medical-surgical patients was shown. Furthermore, a critical cluster of DCs useful to identify CSA was found. Clinical Relevance: The ability to accurately diagnose CSA should help prescribe and deliver the appropriate nursing interventions.