Nurse support for pain and anxiety control in women undergoing diagnostic hysteroscopy: a randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Abstract Objective The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of nurse support for controlling pain and anxiety in women undergoing diagnostic hysteroscopy. Methods This randomized clinical trial included 192 women who underwent diagnostic hysteroscopy at an academic hospital. Women were divided into two groups: those who received nurse support (n = 95) as the intervention group and those who did not (n = 97) as the control group. Results The mean age of women was 54.24 ± 13.91 years and 53.47 ± 13.24 years (P = 0.670) in the intervention and control groups, respectively. There were no differences in clinical and sociodemographic variables between the groups. The mean pain score during examination was 6.62 ± 2.60 and 7.05 ± 2.30 (P = 0.327) for the intervention and control groups, respectively. Most women in both groups were satisfied with the examination (P = 0.777). There was a significant reduction in systolic blood pressure and heart rate during the examination in the intervention group (P = 0.029 and P < 0.001, respectively) and an increase in anxiety scores in the control group (P = 0.009). Conclusions There was no reduction in pain scores during hysteroscopy with nurse support. However, the control group showed an increase in anxiety scores after the hysteroscopy.