Aim. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of patient education and  nurse-led  telephone follow-up (telenursing) on adherence to treatment in patients with acute coronary syndrome admitted to cardiac care units hospitals affiliated to Alborz University of  Medical Sciences.

Background. Increasing adherence to treatment is essential in patients with acute coronary syndrome to reduce readmissions and improve the recovery, but only patient education does not guarantee the adherence to treatment and it is necessary to follow-up patients after discharge.

Method. This randomized clinical trial study was conducted on patients with acute coronary syndrome admitted to the selected hospitals of Karaj, Iran, in 2014. In this study, 90 patients were selected purposively and randomly allocated  in  three groups of education (n=30), education/ telephone follow-up (n=30), and control (n=30). Data collection instrument was questionnaire. Data were gathered at baseline and 12 weeks after the intervention. Patients in educational groups  (education, and education/ telephone follow-up groups) were trained before discharge using educational pamphlets. Telephone follow-up were implemented for education/ telephone follow-up group for 3 months; twice a week in the first six weeks and weekly in the second six weeks. The data was analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS version16.

Results. After intervention, there was a statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of adherence to treatment (P=0.001). Participants in the education/ telephone follow-up group and education group experienced more improvement in adherence to treatment than the control group.

Conclusion. Both patient education and education/ telephone follow-up have effect on improvement of adherence to treatment, but education/ telephone follow-up results in more improvement in adherence in comparison to education. It is recommended to implement education/ telephone follow-up for patients with acute coronary syndrome.