Quality of life post-percutaneous coronary intervention through transitional nursing care programmes

Abstract

Overview of the topic: Premature cardiovascular deaths are on the rise, whilst it is reported that Malta is experiencing an increase in such (WHO, 2018). Percutaneous coronary interventions done locally are annually increasing as well (NSO, 2020). Patients often find difficulties transitioning to their normal routine following their hospital admission for PCIs (Jiang et al., 2019). By implementing a transitional care programme to facilitate recovery and transition, patients’ condition could improve (Jiang et al., 2019). The research question: In percutaneous coronary intervention patients, is a cardiac transitional care programme more effective than standard nursing care in improving the quality of life? PICO elements: The population (P) studied was percutaneous coronary intervention patients. The intervention (I) was transitional care programmes, whilst the comparison (C) was standard nursing care. The outcome (O) was quality of life (QoL). Inclusion and exclusion criteria: These criteria were applied to assess the eligibility of the studies. Studies of all languages, conducted between 2010 and 2020, involving adults of all genders in randomised controlled trials (RCTs), meta-analysis or systematic reviews with interventional methods including technological methods, questionnaires, group sessions, follow-ups, involvement of relatives, nurse-led, physical exercise, behavioural changes, lifestyle changes, diet changes and smoking cessation were included. Method: The elements of the PICO questions were identified and used to produce keywords and synonyms. The key terms were used in the literature search, along with Boolean operators and limiters. The search was conducted using the following databases: HyDi, PubMed Central, CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE Complete, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Databases of Systematic Reviews, ProQuest Databases and Google Scholar. Critical appraisal of the included studies was carried out through the use of respective CASP tools. Results: Five studies were eligible to be appraised for this review. Four of these studies are RCTs, and one is a systematic review. All studies found that transitional care programmes improved percutaneous coronary intervention patient’s quality of life. Implications and Recommendations: Health care professionals need training to deliver such a programme to their patients. Guidelines on the matter need to be established by management teams and policy makers. Conclusion: It was concluded that transitional care programmes improve percutaneous coronary intervention patient’s quality of life. However, the findings also showed the need for further research about the topic.