Effects of transitional health management program on readiness for disciharge, adaptation and clinical symptoms among acute coronary syndrome patients with post percutaneous coronary intervention
Abstract:
Readiness for discharge has been emphasized as integral outcome of acute coronary syndrome care. It helps encourage patients to have confidence in managing themselves after illness as well as having an appropriate lifestyle and behavior change after being discharged from the hospital. This quasi-experimental two-group posttest design aimed to examine the effect of transitional health management program [THMP] on readiness for discharge, adaptation and clinical symptoms among first time acute coronary syndrome patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. Sixty-eight patients who met inclusion criteria were recruited and randomly assigned into an experimental group (n=34) and control group (n=34). Those in an experimental group received a THMP which developed based on transition theory and related literature, while a control group received usual care. THMP consisted of assessment for readiness and related factors, promoting health management ability in transitional period, and continuing support. The study was conducted during May to July 2023. The research instruments were used to collect the data including the personal data, the health status and the Readiness for discharge questionnaire, Adaptation questionnaire, Cardiac anxiety questionnaire and Clinical symptoms questionnaire. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square test and Independence t-test. The result revealed that after experiment, the experimental group had statistically significant higher mean score of readiness for discharge in comparison with the control group (t = 7.914, p<.001). At 2- and 4-weeks post intervention, the experimental group significantly improved functional adaptation and health management (t = 5.916, p<.001, t = 18.486, p<.001 respectively), significantly decreased cardiac anxiety (t = 9.548, p<.001, t = 16.791, p<.001 respectively) and had fewer clinical symptoms in comparison with the control group. The results suggested that the transitional health management program could be useful to promote readiness for discharge, develop confidence, coping and having appropriate health management in transitional care among acute coronary syndrome patients with post percutaneous coronary intervention.