Abstract

DANTAS CAVALCANTI, Ana Carla et al. Observational study of validation of nursing diagnosis anxiety in patients with chronic heart failure. Enferm. glob. [online]. 2013, vol.12, n.30, pp.28-40. ISSN 1695-6141.

Objective: To identify and clinically validate the defining characteristics of the nursing diagnosis anxiety described by NANDA-I in patients with chronic heart failure. Method: An observational, cross-sectional study of 50 patients with chronic heart failure conducted at the Heart Failure Clinic of a university hospital in Niterói / RJ (Brazil). Data collection was carried out through interviews from January to May 2010. Inclusion criteria were: patients with chronic heart disease under clinic assistance; patients aged 18 years or more regardless of sex, lucid and oriented in time, place and person, maintaining verbal communication; showing anxiety diagnosis during the nursing consultation and having informed consent to participate in the study. Results: 36 out of the 74 defining characteristics were considered valid. Out of these, 08 (20.51%) were primary defining characteristics: anxiety (0.85), agitation (0.82), irritability (0.82), restlessness (0.82), nervousness (0.82), insomnia (0.80), distress (0.80) and few common movements (0.80), while 28 were considered secondary and 38 defining characteristics were not considered valid for this group of patients. Conclusion: It takes careful observations on the assessment of anxiety, since a large number of defining characteristics have not been validated. Further studies are needed in other populations and with larger samples on which to base an evidence nursing investigation on anxiety, expanding the evaluation of subjective and objective aspects in fighting and tolerating stress.

Keywords : anxiety; cardiac failure; nursing diagnosis.

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