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.