Aim: To evaluate the impact of a learning program on quality of life indicators in patients with prosthetic heart valves (PHV).
Subjects and methods: One hundred and twenty-two patients with PHV were examined. A study group consisted of 72 patients who were trained at PHV school; a control group comprised 50 untrained patients. The comparison groups were matched for age, gender, education level, the underlying disease that had been a cause of heart disease, and the type of PHV. The SF-36 questionnaire assessing quality of life was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the learning program.
Results: At baseline, before cardiac surgery, the patients with PHV showed low physical and mental health indicators in both groups. At 6-month follow-up, the physical health component was increased by 23.8% in the control group and by 27.4% in the study group trained by the learning program (p < 0.05). Analysis of the scores of each scale of the questionnaire yielded significant results in both groups after 6 months of cardiac surgery (p < 0.05), which showed better quality of life. The comparison groups had significant differences only in the scores of the mental health component. Thus, following 6 months the mental health component was 24.1% higher in the learning program group than in the control one (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: The learning program for patients with PHV, which is based on the principle of continuity of the in- and outpatient management, contributes to better quality of life mainly due to an improvement in the mental health component.