Authors (including presenting author) :
Lee SY(1), Lam KY(1), Lui SR(1), Tsang HC(1), To YL(1), Sun TF (2)
Affiliation :
(1) Physiotherapy Department, North District Hospital
(2) Hospital Chief Executive Office, North District Hospital
Introduction :
As part of a comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation programme, patient empowerment is important in facilitating an active lifestyle modification. In Phase I in-patient cardiac rehabilitation (CR), physiotherapists are responsible for prescribing exercise, giving exercise advices and empowering patients to engage in physical activities upon discharge. Over the past three years, there has been a triple increase in number of physiotherapy referrals for CR in Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) in North District Hospital (NDH). In this study, the effect of physiotherapy service enhancement in CCU was explored.
Objectives :
Target on patients in CCU of NDH, to investigate:
(1) Their changes in exercise and self-management knowledge after early education
(2) Their confidence to continue physical activities upon discharge
Methodology :
CCU patients referred to physiotherapy service for CR were attended and recruited from December 2019 to December 2020. Exercise training and early education were given to these patients. Four conceptual questions were asked before and after education, to evaluate their acquisition of exercise and self-management knowledge. These included: 1) signs and symptoms of cardiac events; 2) precautions to be taken before/during physical activities; 3) intensity monitoring during physical activities; 4) self-management of suspected cardiac event during physical activities. Before discharge, patients were asked to rate their confidence in performing physical activities, ranging from 0 (no confidence) to 10 (full confidence).
Result & Outcome :
A total number of 37 patients were recruited. After CR programme, all patients could enumerate signs and symptoms of cardiac events, when compared to 37.8% at baseline. Patients’ knowledge in taking precautions and monitoring intensity during physical activities was also improved, with percentage of knowledge acquisition grew from 5.4% to 86.5% and 0 to 64.9% respectively. Meanwhile, percentage of patients who knew the self-management of suspected cardiac event during physical activities was increased from 16.2% to 86.5%.
After CR, majority of patients were in good confidence to continue physical activities after discharge, with average score 8.4/10.
Early patient empowerment in CR was beneficial in improving their self-management knowledge and confidence in performing physical activities after discharge. Concept of exercise intensity monitoring could be strengthened for patients to work out safely.
