Impact of therapeutic education on quality of life in coronary patients: Interventional study.

Abstract

Aim: To determine the impact of a therapeutic patient education (TPE) program on the quality of life of coronary patients at the Sahloul University Hospital in Sousse.

Methods: an interventional study was conducted over a period of seven months from May 2022 to November 2022, with patients hospitalized in the cardiology department of the Sahloul University Hospital. Participants were divided into two groups, intervention and control. The task force benefited from a TPE program. The control group followed the usual consultations at the hospital. The health-related quality of life assessment was done three months after the end of the educational program, using the validated Tunisian version of SF-12.

Results: Of the 129 patients included, 38 followed the education program while 91 were in the control group. Sociodemographic characteristics revealed a male predominance in the study population, with a similar average age between the two groups. The main cardiovascular risk factors identified were smoking, hypertension and diabetes. This program has led to an improvement in the quality of life of patients. Thus, patients who participated in the TPE program had significantly higher scores than the control group in the headings of physical role, emotional role, body pain, social function, and physical health and mental health scores with statistically significant differences.

Conclusion: Our study highlights the crucial importance of therapeutic education in improving the health status and quality of life of coronary patients. It calls for its widespread integration into cardiovascular care protocols, highlighting its central role in a proactive and personalized approach to medical care.