cardiac rehabilitation and psychological symptoms in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery: a randomized clinical trial

Background: coronary artery bypass graft (cabg) surgery significantly affects both the physical and psychological well-being of patients. it is essential to address the psychological symptoms which may arise during recovery in order to improve overall health outcomes. cardiac rehabilitation programs can enhance psychological well-being and improve recovery process for these patients.aim: this study was conducted with aim to investigate the effect of cardiac rehabilitation on improving psychological symptoms in patients undergoing cabg.method: this randomized clinical trial study was performed on 60 patients referred to a specialized hospital of cardiovascular diseases in hamadan from april to december 2021. the participants were divided into intervention and control groups using the permuted block randomization method. along with the routine care after cabg surgery, the intervention group also received physical exercise and physiotherapy for heart rehabilitation. the exercises were tailored to each patient's cardiovascular condition and included walking on a treadmill, using a stationary bike, and doing aerobics and stretching exercises. the 60-minute sessions were held three times a week for one month. data was collected using the scl-90-r and analyzed by spss software (version 16). p<0.05 was considered significant.results: at the beginning of the program, the mean psychological indices score in the intervention and control groups was 182.1±14.9 and 196.5±25.1, respectively (p=0.503). after the intervention implementation, the mean psychological score was 113.7±14.9 and 272.2±32.0 in the intervention and control groups, respectively (p<0.001).implications for practice: this study demonstrated that cardiac rehabilitation following cabg positively impacts patients' psychological symptoms.