A Review of the Use of Non-Pharmacological Methods to Reduce Anxiety in Patients Undergoing Endoscopy of the Upper Digestive System in Iran: a Systematic Review

Abstract

Background:

Performing diagnostic procedures such as endoscopy of the upper digestive system is stressful for patients and has adverse consequences. Controlling anxiety with non-pharmacological methods, in addition to reducing the discomfort of this procedure, reduces the side effects and adverse effects of sedative drugs. The purpose of this study was reviewing the use of non-pharmacological methods to reduce anxiety in patients undergoing endoscopy of the upper digestive system in Iran.

Materials and Methods:

This research is a review study that was conducted in 2024 after searching in domestic and foreign databases including Web of Sciences, Scopus, Pub Med, CINAHL, Google Scholar, SID, Magiran and Iran doc. The keywords used included: non-pharmacological methods, nursing, endoscopy and anxiety. After qualitative evaluation, the studies were reviewed based on relevance and availability, and the appropriate data were extracted.

Results:

The findings related to the current research were 22 articles that were selected from the clinical trial, experimental, semi-experimental and case-control studies. The results showed that various interventions such as music therapy, nature clip, guided imagery, nursing counseling, thought distraction, aromatherapy and the presence of caregiver have been used to reduce the anxiety of patients undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in Iran.

Conclusion:

Various non-pharmacological methods such as patient education, watching videos, thought distraction and providing nursing care created a positive attitude towards the endoscopy procedure in patients and as a result, the patient will have better cooperation with the examiner. Application of these methods can reduce the use of sedative drugs and, as a result, reduce their side effects.