The effect of self‑management intervention program on the lifestyle of postmyocardial infarction patients

Most patients with myocardial infarction (MI) suffer from one or more risk factors such as obesity and overweight, unhealthy diet, lack of physical activity (PA), and high blood pressure. Individual control of these risk factors by lifestyle modification raises the probability of survival in these patients; hence, we used a self‑management intervention to assess its effect on the lifestyle of post‑MI patients.

This quasi‑experimental study was conducted on 92 hospitalized MI patients in Hamadan province in 2016. Convenience sampling method was used for selecting the participants. The patients were selected and assigned to experimental and control groups. The main parameters (diet, blood pressure, waist circumference, and body mass index [BMI]) were measured at the baseline and 8 weeks after discharge. Domestic PA was the only parameter measured 8 weeks after their discharge. A self‑management intervention was adopted for the experimental group. The data were analyzed using paired and independent‑sample t‑tests with SPSS software version 16.

The comparison of the scores obtained for diet, blood pressure, waist circumference, and BMI in post‑MI patients revealed no statistically significant difference between the two groups at the beginning of the study (P > 0.05). Following the intervention, the experimental group had a significantly higher mean score for diet and domestic PA (walking program from 1st week to 8 weeks), compared to the control group (P < 0.001); however, the intervention had no significant effect on BMI, waist circumference, and systolic and diastolic pressure (P > 0.05).

The findings indicated that the program had an impact on some risk factors. Therefore, it is recommended to use self‑management support in MI patients during the discharge process to improve their lifestyle.