Effect of the self-management education program on the quality of life in people with chronic heart failure: a randomized controlled trial

摘要

Background: Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) is a syndrome that negatively affects a person’s Quality of Life(QOL). The efficient self-management education program increases the individual’s abilities and skills forfollowing and participating in a long-term healthcare plan.Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the self-management education program on QOLin people with CHF.Methods: This randomized controlled trial study was conducted on 60 people with CHF and without sensory- cognitive problem from April-August 2015. They were selected using the convenience sampling method, andwere randomly assigned into the intervention and control groups. The control group received the routineeducation presented to participants at discharge. However, besides the routine education, the intervention groupreceived the self-management education program consisting of three sessions followed for a 3-month period. TheIranian heart failure QOL questionnaire was used for data collection before and after the intervention. Theindependent-samples and paired-samples t-tests, Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used for data analysis viathe SPSS v.16 software. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: No statistically significant differences were reported between the groups in terms of demographic andclinical characteristics, indicating that they were homogeneous. A statistically significant difference was reportedbetween the two groups after the intervention in terms of the mean changes of total QOL (p<0.001) and itsdimensions, including symptoms (p=0.002), social interference (p=0.01), psychological condition (p=0.013), andself-efficacy and knowledge (p<0.001). In addition, an improvement was observed in the total QOL in theintervention group after the education (p<0.001).Conclusions: According to the results of this study, the self-management education program can be consideredan appropriate strategy for improving the QOL in people suffering from CHF by health care providers.Trial registration: The trial was registered at the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (http://www.irct.ir) with theIRCT ID: IRCT2015032021521N1.Funding: The authors received financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this articlefrom Iran University of Medical Sciences (No: 107/105/94/D, date April 11, 2015).