The Effect of Using the IDEAL Discharge Model on the Drug Adherence in Congestive Heart Failure Patients Hospitalized in Intensive Care Units of Military Hospitals

Congestive heart failure is a progressive and debilitating chronic disorder. Discharge is a period of transfer from hospital to home that the responsibility of care providers when hospitalized is transferred to the patient and the primary care physician and may lead to new problems for the patient and family.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of using the ideal discharge model on drug adherence in congestive heart failure patients hospitalized in intensive care units.

This is randomized controlled study. Sixty patients with congestive heart failure, admitted to the intensive care units of selected Aja military hospitals in Tehran in 2020 were included in the study by convenience sampling method. Patients were randomly divided into experimental and control groups (30 patients in each group) and the control group received only routine care. The study was performed in two stages before and after the intervention. To collect data, demographic information form, Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) in drug adherence was used. Data were analyzed using SPSS-21 software and using descriptive analysis, independent t-test, Pearson correlation, Fisher’s exact test, and Chi-square tests (P<0.05).

There was no significant difference between the two groups of drug adherence before the intervention (P=0.722). However, there was a significant difference between the two groups of drug adherence after the intervention (P=0.005).

Applying the ideal discharge model increases the patient’s participation in the treatment process and drug adherence in congestive heart failure patients hospitalized in intensive care units.