The effects of discharge education program on recovery and quality of life after cardiac surgery

Nowadays rapid development, sedentary life, air pollution, fast food/beverages, abundance of means of transportation, tobacco and alcohol use, and the increase in associated diseases have caused cardiovascular diseases to be shown as the primary cause of mortality. Open heart surgery, one of the primary approaches, is preferred because it provides a symptom-free, high-quality and longer life expectancy compared to medical treatment. This research was conducted as a randomized controlled, pretest-posttest control group experimental design to determine the effects of discharge training after cardiac surgery on recovery and quality of life. The study was completed between March 2022 and July 2023, at two Training and Research Hospitals with 70 inpatients. The data of the study were collected face to face and via telephone calls using the 'Patient Personal Information Form', 'Multidimensional Index of Life Quality ', 'Quality of Recovery -40 Questionnaire' and 'Telephone Follow-Up Form'. In the first face-to-face meeting, discharge training was explained to the patients, and a training booklet and mobile application were given. The control group received standard hospital education. According to the results of the study, which was evaluated at a 95% confidence interval and a significance level below p<0.05; It was observed that the quality of recovery and quality of life of the intervention group patients were statistically higher, the complications were fewer and the level of knowledge was higher.