The Effect of Educational Intervention Based on Health Belief Model on Preventive Behaviors of Readmission in Patients with Early Diagnosis of Acute Coronary Syndrome

Background: Health belief model is a preventive model for health problems such as heart diseases. The aim of this study was defining the effect of educational intervention according to the health belief model on the beliefs of patients with a primary diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome regarding preventive behaviors of readmission. Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study. Convenience sampling was done on patients with the primary diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome, discharging from Seyed-al-Shohada Hospital of Urmia, who were randomly selected and put into 2 groups of intervention and control (35 subjects). A researcher- made questionnaire titled “preventive behaviors of cardiac disease and readmission” was used just before, 1, and 3 months after the intervention. For statistical analysis, multiple comparisons of Bonferroni, t-test, chi-square and SPSS 17 software were used. Results: Before the intervention, the mean scores of all the studied areas were not significantly different in the 2 groups of intervention and control (p > 0.05), indicating that the scores of the 2 groups were similar before the study. But, after calculating the difference between the mean scores of preventive behaviors regarding readmission, in the areas of knowledge, perceived severity, perceived barriers, self-efficacy and preventive behaviors regarding readmission 1 month after the intervention, and in the areas of knowledge, perceived barriers, and guidelines for preventive behaviors and actions regarding readmission 3 months after the intervention, there was a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). The intervention, 1 and 3 months after the implementation, had no effect on the perceived sensitivity and benefits of heart patients (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Considering the positive effect of implementing the health belief model on health beliefs and preventive behaviors regarding Readmission, it is possible to improve health behaviors by holding regular training sessions and following up on patients’ status, and prevent from patients’ Readmission and hospitalization costs, which also increases the quality of their life.