The Effects of the G5 Educational Program on Treatment Adherence After Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery

Background: Patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery have moderate to poor treatment adherence. These patients should benefit from simple, feedback-centered educational methods that produce deep and sustainable learning to improve their treatment adherence. Objectives: The present study was conducted to examine the effect of the G5 training program on treatment adherence in patients undergoing CABG. Methods: A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest study was conducted on patients undergoing CABG visiting Rouhani Hospital, cardiology clinics, and cardiology physicians' offices in Babol, Iran. The participants were selected by convenience sampling, and those who met the study inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to an intervention (n = 37) or a control group (n = 37). Patients in the intervention group received a G5 training program (i.e., bags containing flashcards with questions and answers on lifestyle after surgery) and a 30-minute face-to-face, daily training session. The control group received 30 minutes of daily self-care instruction from a cardiac surgery nurse. A demographic and clinical data checklist and Modanloo's Adherence to Treatment Questionnaire (MATQ) were used to collect data before, one month, and two months after the intervention. Results: Most participants in the intervention and control groups were male (64.9% and 56.8%, respectively). The mean baseline treatment adherence score was 119.59 ± 7.82 in the intervention group, which changed to 152.62 ± 8.44 and 151.43 ± 8.65 one and two months after the intervention, respectively (P < 0.001). The mean baseline treatment adherence score was 120.35 ± 8.76 in the control group, which did not change significantly during the study (117.67 ± 6.28 and 116.97 ± 6.67 one and two months after the intervention, respectively). Repeated-measures analysis showed that the intervention significantly increased the mean treatment adherence score in the intervention group over time (P = 0.001). Female patients, patients with academic education, and urban patients scored higher on the query about the treatment, commitment to treatment, and sticking to treatment subscales, respectively. Conclusions: Education using the G5 method effectively improved treatment adherence of patients undergoing CABG. Nurses are suggested to follow up with patients, check their treatment adherence, and implement simple and low-cost educational methods, such as the G5 method, to improve patients' adherence to treatment.