A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of a Nurse-Led Intervention on Self-Management of Heart Disease and Compliance with Prescribed Treatment Among Post Myocardial Infarction (MI) Patients at Selected Hospitals in Durg (C.G.)

Abstract

Incidence of myocardial infarction (MI) worldwide has increased dramatically, especially in low- and middle-income countries, and has been worsened by fast aging of the population with consequent increase in the number of co-morbidities, expenses for healthcare and readmissions to hospital. This study assessed the efficacy of a nurse-based intervention for enhancing the ability of self-management and adherence to treatment of those patients who sustained MI in the hospitals of Durg, Chhattisgarh. Quantitative experimental design (pretest – posttest) and the Middle Range Theory of Self-Care of Chronic Illness were used in this study. A total of 68 post-MI patients were recruited by purposive sampling and divided into 2 groups: experimental group (34) and control group (34). Collection of data involved demographic and clinical data as well as the Coronary Artery Disease Self-Management Scale (CSMS), which was used for evaluating the research outcomes. The intervention consisted of cardiac rehabilitation sessions, prescribed diet, and medication plan. The control cohort received standard treatment. Pre- and post-tests were conducted at 15 days. The results showed considerable improvement in the experimental group, where the average score on self-management increased from 67.18 ± 12.42 to 92.85 ± 10.84. Use of a paired t-test resulted in the finding that the differences are very significant (t = 8.63, p < 0.001). In the post-test, most individuals reached the “excellent” level of self-management while the control group did not show any significant progress. Chi-square analysis revealed meaningful links between self-management scores obtained at the pretest and socio-demographic characteristics included in the analysis, such as education and residence, but no connection was found with any other socio-demographic or clinical characteristics. The study showed that nurse-led interventions made a significant contribution to the increase of self-management capabilities and treatment adherence in patients with MI and proved their importance in cardiac rehabilitation.