Comparing the Impact of Three Follow-Up Methods (Telephone, Educational Booklet, and SMS) on Self-Care Ability of Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Background: Continuous follow-up is one of the most essential factors in patient participation, self-care, continuity of care, and ultimately improved quality of care. Objectives: This study aimed to compare the effect of three methods of follow-up through telephone, educational booklet, and SMS on the self-care ability of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods: A quasi-experimental study was performed on 120 patients with ACS admitted to the CCU and PCCU of two teaching hospitals affiliated to the Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. The subjects were chosen via convenience sampling and randomized into three intervention groups, including educational booklet, SMS (daily), and telephone (twice a week, 15 - 20 minutes per session). Data collection tools included a demographic questionnaire and the Kearney and Fleischer Self-Care scale. The interventions were sustained for four weeks after discharge. Six weeks after the program, the questionnaires were completed again. Data were analyzed in SPSS 21 using the chi-square test, paired t-test, and ANOVA at a significance level of below 0.05. Results: A total of 120 patients completed the study. The results showed a significant difference in the self-care scores after the intervention between all of the three groups (P = 0.0001). There was a significant difference between the booklet and SMS groups (P = 0.0001) and between the booklet and telephone groups (P = 0.0001) after the intervention. However, self-care scores were not significantly different between the SMS and telephone groups after the intervention (P = 0.19). Conclusions: The use of SMS was associated with the highest score of self-care in patients with ACS, and it is proposed as the best follow-up method. Therefore, health care providers can enhance patients’ self-care ability through this simple technique and thus, help patients recover sooner and show reduced disease complications.