Preliminary Effects of a Structured Educational Program in Cardiac Patients at Different Stages of Enrollment in Cardiovascular Rehabilitation

• Published in: Community health equity research & policy Vol. 44; no. 4; pp. 365 - 376
• Main Authors: Zulianello dos Santos, Rafaella, Scheafer Korbes, Andrea, Batista Bonin, Christiani D., Marques Vieira, Ariany, Karsten, Marlus, Benetti, Magnus, Oh, Paul, Ghisi, Gabriela L. d. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.07.2024
• Subjects: Aged; Brazil; Cardiac Rehabilitation - methods; Cardiovascular Diseases; Exercise; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health Literacy; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Patient Education as Topic - methods; Program Evaluations; Self Efficacy; Surveys and Questionnaires; Brazil; referral and consultation; patient education as a topic; follow-up studies; patient participation; cardiac rehabilitation
• ISSN: 2752-535X; 2752-5368
• DOI: 10.1177/0272684X221080119

This quasi-experimental study investigated the preliminary effects of a structured education intervention in a pooled sample of cardiovascular rehabilitation (CR) patients in Brazil. Recently enrolled (RE) and long-term enrolled (LTE) patients attended 12 weekly education sessions in addition to three weekly exercise sessions. Patients completed surveys assessing disease-related knowledge, physical activity, food intake, self-efficacy, and health literacy. Functional capacity was assessed by the 6-minutes walking test. All outcomes were assessed at pre-,post-CR, and 6-months follow-up. Bonferroni correction was applied. In total, 69 (69.7%) patients completed all three assessments. There were significant improvements in knowledge pre-to post-test in both subgroups (p < 0.001), and in functional capacity (p ≤ 0.001) and food intake (p ≤ 0.001) pre-to post-test in the RE subgroup. Post-test knowledge was correlated to physical activity, functional capacity and health literacy. This preliminary study suggests the importance of structured education for CR patients. A larger study using a randomized controlled design is needed to determine efficacy.