Effect of an Educational Self-Care Program on Knowledge and Performance in Patients with Coronary Syndrome

Aims The most important causes for mortality rate and poor quality of life in cardiovascular patients arise from insufficient and inappropriate self-care. This study aimed to examine the effect of an educational self-care program on awareness and performance in patients with Coronary syndrome. Materials Methods This is an experimental study conducted in hospitals affiliated with Qom University of medical science. 70 Patients were randomly assigned to experiment (n=35) and control (n=35) groups. Awareness and performance data were collected through interviewed questionnaire and observation. Then the patients in experiment group received 2 educational sessions each lasting 20 minutes during the hospital stay, and also were given an educational booklet review, while control patients received routine care. Data on all patients’ awareness and performance was again collected one month later. The awareness and performance of two groups were compared using Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U tests. Findings The difference between two groups in awareness area was -5.39 (p 0.001) and in performance area was -19.49 after intervention (p 0.001). The mean of changes of total awareness score of self-care was 0.57±1.14 in control group (p 0.004) and 8.40±9.39 in experimental group (p 0.001). The mean of self-care performance scores has been increased about 32.13±6.32 in experiment group (p 0.001) and the improving self-care performance of control group was 0.98±1.11 (p 0.001). Conclusion The application of an educational self-care program raises the awareness and improves the performance of the patients with coronary syndrome.