Dehuti ., Dr. Mrs. Rema Rajesh, Mrs. Vijaya Anil
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.