BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is one of the most effective methods in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. CABG can be a source of stress in candidate patients. Training and education can reduce the induced stress and its devastating physical and psychological side-effects. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the impact of peer education on stress management in CABG candidates.

METHODS: In this clinical trial, 100 CABG candidates, admitted to Mazandaran Cardiac Center, were selected and randomly divided into intervention and control groups. The control group was routinely trained, while peer education, in addition to routine training, was applied in the intervention group in a one-hour meeting the day before the surgery. In order to record patients' personal and medical information, a researcher-made checklist was used. Also, for stress evaluation, DASS-21 questionnaire was applied the day before and one hour before the surgery (IRCT: 2014102619677N1).

FINDINGS: In terms of stress score, no significant difference was observed  between the intervention (8.48±1.11) and control (8.86±1.29) groups before the intervention. However, after the intervention (one hour before the surgery), the mean stress score in the intervention group (4.70±0.93) was lower than the control group (9.92±1.88) (p<0.001).

CONCLUSION: Based on the findings, peer education could reduce the level of stress in CABG candidates. Therefore, this method is recommended for reducing stress in these patients.