Effectiveness of an Educational Program through Mobile Health Application on Knowledge and Adherence to a Healthy Lifestyle in Cardiac Syndrome X Patients

Cardiac syndrome X (CSX) is a form of ischemic heart disease with functional coronary microvascular abnormalities. The symptoms are often debilitating and sufferers have a poor quality of life, with costly demand for healthcare services. Therefore, an educational intervention contributes to the increase of knowledge about CSX risk factors and adherence to a healthy lifestyle.

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of educational interventions on knowledge and adherence to a healthy lifestyle in CSX Patients.

A simple,two-arm, parallel, randomized control trial was conducted in the Tehran Heart Centre Hospital, (IRAN) on 100 CSX outpatients who were selected through randomized sampling and divided into experimental (n=50) and control (n=50) groups. This study assessed an educational program that has been provided through the Mobile Health application (mHealth app) to the experimental group. The data were collected using the Heart Disease Fact Questionnaire (HDFQ) and Adherence to a Healthy lifestyle questionnaire (AHLQ).

In the intervention group, the difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of knowledge on CSX risk factors was statistically significant (SD=1.77; P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between pre-test and post-test means scores in the control group (SD=3.12; P>0.05).

Patients with CSX have high morbidity and health care expenditure; therefore, the provision of an educational program through the mHealth app as well as lifestyle modification can be considered a highly effective and low-cost intervention contributing to an increase of knowledge about CSX risk factors in patients and adoption of a healthy lifestyle.