The Effect of Informational and Emotional Support Program on Uncertainty in Illness of Coronary Artery Disease Patients Undergoing Cardiac Catheterization

Abstract

          This quasi-experimental research aimed to examine the effects of  informational and emotional support   program on uncertainty in illness of   coronary artery disease undergoing  cardiac catheterization at a private hospital in Samutsakhon province. The data were collected from February to April, 2016. The concept of uncertainty in illness by Mishel, (1988) was adopted to design the program. A purposive sampling was applied to recruit 40 patients with acute coronary disease into this study. This study collected data using personal characteristics questionnaire and the questionnaire on uncertainty in illness for cardiovascular patients included four aspects of 1) the ambiguity of the illness; 2) the complexity of treatment and health system; 3) the inconsistency of information on illness and treatment; and 4) unpredictability of health outcome with the total of 24 questions. Data were   analyzed using statistical package. Descriptive statistics was used to describe personal characteristics of   respondents. Paired t-test was applied to examine the mean difference of uncertainty in illness of patients before and after participating in the program.

          The findings of the research showed that after implementation of the program, the mean score of uncertainty in illness of the patients result of the decreased significantly. (P < .05) Moreover, the findings study show that the informational and emotional support program could decrease the uncertainty in illness of coronary artery disease patients so that nurses should use this program for improving the quality of nursing care of the patients with coronary artery disease who will be undergoing cardiac catheterization and angioplasty.