Abstract

Aim. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of self-care education on quality of life in patients following pacemaker implantation.

Background. One of the most common causes of death after myocardial infarction is arrhythmia resistant to treatment. This type of arrhythmia can be managed by pacemaker. The quality of life after pacemaker implantation is usually low, and self-care education may be a method to address this issue.

Method. In a randomized clinical trial study, 80 patients, candidate for permanent pacemaker implantation at Rajaie Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Center, were recruited to either control or experimental group through the blocked randomization. Data were collected using demographic form and the MacNew health-related quality of life questionnaire. The experimental group patients, in accompany with one first-degree relative, received one session of self-care education on the preimplantation day. The content of this 30 minutes session was "how to use educational footage and pamphlets, and also, a face-to-face education. At the end of the session, the patients were given an "educational package". Following implantation, the experimental group patients were contacted once a week for one-month period. The data were analyzed by SPSS, version 15, using inferential statistics.

Results. There were no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the mean scores of emotional, physical, and social aspects of quality of life and overall quality of life, before self-care education however, after intervention, a statistically significant difference was found in all these variables between experimental and control groups (P=0.004).

Conclusion. Self-care education could have an effect on the quality of life of patients after permanent pacemaker implantation.

Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of social capital in healthy lifestyle promotion among people with Coronary Artery Disease (CAD).

Background. Social capital, one of the social determinants of health, plays an important role in promoting healthy lifestyle among people. Due to increasing incidence of CAD, research is needed about social capital and its relationship with healthy lifestyle among people with CAD.

Method. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 412 patients with CAD, including 239 men and 173 women, in 4 different wards (i.e. men and women internal wards, Diplomat and VIP wards) in Shahid Rajaie Cardiovascular, Medical and Research Center from January 2015 to June 2015. Data were collected by demographic characteristic form, Miyamoto et al. social capital questionnaire and researcher-made questionnaire of healthy lifestyle. Validity and reliability were confirmed by content analysis and Cronbach's alpha methods. The data were analyzed using SPSS with appropriate statistical tests. 

Findings. There was a statistically significant difference between social capital in terms of gender (p=0.015). A statistically ssignificant correlation was found between social capital and healthy lifestyle (r=0.418, P<0.01). The highest correlation was observed between social capital and “health responsibility” component (r=0.384, P<0.01) and the lowest correlation was observed between social capital and “abstain from tobacco and alcohol’’ (r=0.107, P<0.01). Among social capital components, “social relationships” had the highest correlation with healthy lifestyle (r=0.511, P<0.01).

Conclusion. Social capital and its components have positive and important effects on healthy lifestyle and its subscales. It is necessary to emphasize community-based programs, such as strengthening social capital in the society to prevent and control chronic diseases, especially heart disease.

Abstract

Aim.The aim of this study was to compare the effect of education through lecture and multimedia methods on knowledge, attitude, and performance of cardiac care nurses about temporary pacemaker care.

Background.Cardiac dysrhythmias are among the most common cardiovascular disorders. Temporary pacemaker insertion is a treatment or prevention method for cardiac dysrhythmia. Nurses are the main group to provide the care for patients with temporary pacemaker, so it is necessary to educate them in an effective and efficient way.

Method.This was an experimental study conducted in 2015 on 52 cardiac care nurses working in ShaheedRajaei cardiovascular center. All 52 nurses were randomly divided in 2 groups of education through lecture and multimedia. The level of nurses' knowledge, attitude and performance was evaluated before and three weeks after education and the effect of education was examined using Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test through SPSS version 22.

Findings.Before intervention, the median and interquartile range of knowledge levels for lecture and mul-timedia groups were 12.5 (10-14) and 11 (9-12), respectively, and after that, they increased to 17 (15- 19) and 17 (13- 19). The median and interquartile range of performance levels for lecture and multimedia groups changed from 29 (26- 30) and 30 (26- 31) to 34 (32- 35) and 34 (32- 35), respectively. The knowledge and performance levels increased in both methods. But there was no statistically significant difference between these two methods. Before intervention, the median and interquartile range of attitude levels for lecture and multimedia groups were 62.5 (60-64) and 64 (63-66) and after that, they changed to 64 (60-64) and 63 (61-64), showing that intervention has no effect on attitude level in any of these two groups.

Conclusion.There is no difference between the effectiveness of education through two methods of lecture and multimedia software on cardiac care nurses' knowledge, attitude and performance. In the other words, multimedia software method is as effective as lecture method. Education using multimedia software can be considered as a proper method for increasing demand in staff education. Proper infrastructure and optimal training programs are prerequisites to effectiveness of education through multimedia software method.