The Effect of an Educational Self-Care Program on Knowledge and Performance in Patients with Heart Failure

Introduction: The most important causes for mortality rate and poor quality of life in patients with heart failure arise from insufficient and inappropriate self-care. This study determines the effect of an educational self- care program on knowledge and performance in patients with heart failure. Methods: This quazi-experimental study included 80 patients with heart failure hospitalized in Kerman University hospitals. Patients were randomly assigned to experimental (n=40) and control (n=40) groups. First, background demographic, knowledge and performance data were collected through interview and observation, by a researcher made questionnaire. Then the patients in experiment group received 4 educational sessions each lasting twenty minutes during the hospital stay, and also were given an educational booklet review, while control patients received routine care. Data on all patients’ knowledge and performance was again collected at one month after discharge. The knowledge and performance of two groups were compared using Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U tests. Results: There was no statistically significant differences between the two groups in self-care knowledge and performance before intervention. One month after discharge, patients from both groups reported better self care knowledge and performance compared with their baseline, but patients from experimental group reported a significantly more increase in self-care knowledge and performance than patients from the control group(increase in knowledge score= 18.81 vs. 1.81 z= 7.56, p< 0.0001, in performance score= 29.50 vs. 0.43 z= 7.31, p 0.0001). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the application of an instructional self-care program raises the awareness and improves the performance of the patients with heart failure