Effects of health education using therapeutic lifestyle changes method in a population with dyslipidemia

Abstract

Objective This study evaluated the effects of health education promoting therapeutic lifestyle changes in a population with dyslipidemia. Methods Patients with dyslipidemia were randomly assigned to one of four groups: the current group (CG) received conventional health guidance, the educational course (EC) group attended six lectures as part of an educational course, the phone call (PC) group received twice-monthly follow-up by telephone, and the comprehensive group (EC + PC) attended both the educational course and received follow-up telephone calls. Total cholesterol (TC), total triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), and the knowledge, attitude, and behavior (KAP) score for blood lipids were compared within each group and among groups. Results A total of 214 patients were enrolled and completed the study: 62 patients in CG, 49 patients in EC, 56 patients in PC, and 47 patients in EC + PC. There were significant differences in the EC, PC, and EC + PC groups after the 24-week intervention. For example, pre- and post-intervention values for each group were as follows: EC group: (5.74±0.69) mmol/L and (5.14±0.87) mmol/L for TC, 35.22±1.67 and 42.96±5.72 for KAP; PC group: (5.63±0.58) mmol/L and (5.22±1.07) mmol/L for TC, 34.54.±0.97and 39.41±5.03 for KAP; EC + PC group: (5.60±0.48) mmol/L and (4.00±0.79) mmol/L for TC, 35.44±1.80 and 45.05±3.19 for KAP, respectively (P 0.05). In a comparison among the four groups, the EC and PC groups showed greater improvements than the CG group. Moreover, the EC + PC group showed statistically significant differences in the results compared with the other three groups (P< 0.05). Conclusion An educational course combined with telephone follow-up calls was more effective than a single intervention in improving blood lipids and enhancing the health awareness of patients with dyslipidemia. This combined health education model not only improves the effectiveness of treatment to some degree, but also plays a role in its supervision and management. Furthermore, it may also assist in the implementation of continuous nursing services in medical institutions. Key words: Dyslipidemias; Health education; Curriculum; Education, distance; Therapeutic lifestyle change