The effect of short time telephone follow-up on physical conditions and quality of life in patients after pacemaker implantation

Cardiac arrhythmia is one of the most common cardio-vascular diseases. Pacemaker as one of the curative methods in treating patients with arrhythmia can reduce most of their problems. In spite of its benefits it may cause some physical and psychological problems and affect on patients quality of life. Thus following up is necessary for these patients. Telephone follow up may be useful as a cheap and effective method for this purpose. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of telephone follow up by nurse on the quality of life in patients with pacemaker. In this clinical-trial study 60 patients with pacemaker were divided into two groups. Case group was followed up by telephone and control group was followed up by routine procedure. The quality of life (QOL) was assessed using AQOL and sf-36 questionnaires for duration of one month. Data were analyzed using independent and paired-t tests. No significant difference was found between case and control group for the quality of life scores before starting the study. At the end of the study mean quality of life scores was significantly higher in case group compared to the control group. Paired t-test also showed a significant difference between the mean of quality of life scores in case group before and after the study (P