Patientenschulung bei Herzinsuffizienz verbessert krankheitsbezogenes Wissen und Verhalten während kardiologischer Rehabilitation

Abstract

Heart failure is one of the most common und costly chronic diseases. Patient education is an important part of heart failure therapy. Rehabilitation aims to improve self-management abilities and the course of the disease. A structured heart failure education program was established to create knowledge about the disease and to implement a disease friendly behavior. The effectiveness was tested in a randomized controlled design. Patients were cluster randomized -assigned to an intervention group or a control group at the beginning of a rehabilitation. Both received a rehabilitation specifically geared to heart-failure-patients. The intervention group received additionally the education program, the control group a single lecture on the disease. At the end of rehabilitation and 6 months later the knowledge and integrity of the recommended self-tests have been checked. In addition the disease severity and pharmacotherapy were determined. Both groups showed improvements in disease status. Participants of the education program had a sustained higher knowledge, were better adjusted to medication after 6 months and documented their self-tests more frequently. Regardless to the education intervention an improvement of the disease status occurs during cardiac rehabilitation. The effective single components are still unclear. The evaluated education program leads specifically to an improved disease-related knowledge and improved self-management skills. Due to these results it seems useful to include cardiac rehabilitation in heart failure disease-management programs - a specific heart failure education program should be integrated.