Psychology Publications
Can causal explanations about endothelial pathophysiology benefit patient education? A cluster randomized controlled trial in cardiac rehabilitation
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-1-2019
Journal
Patient Education and Counseling
Volume
102
Issue
9
First Page
1672
Last Page
1679
URL with Digital Object Identifier
10.1016/j.pec.2019.04.019
Abstract
Objective: To examine whether explaining causal links among endothelial pathophysiology, cardiac risk factors, symptoms and health behaviors (termed causal information) enhances patients’ depth of knowledge about cardiovascular disease self-management and their perceptions of the cardiac rehabilitation and secondary prevention (CRSP) program. Methods: Newly referred CRSP patients (N = 94) were cluster randomized to usual care (control; UC) or usual care with causal information (intervention; UC + CI). Depth of knowledge (factual vs. deep) was measured with an adapted cognitive-reasoning task. Patients’ cardiovascular knowledge and beliefs about the efficacy of a CRSP program were assessed. Results: After controlling for education level, patients in UC + CI demonstrated deeper knowledge about cardiovascular management than did those in UC. The UC + CI group showed higher factual knowledge than their counterparts after covarying education, occupation status and BMI. The UC + CI group also rated the CRSP program as more credible than those in UC, after controlling for age. Deep knowledge mediated the relationship between group conditions and perceived credibility of CRSP. Conclusion: Causal information can enhance the depth of patients’ understanding of cardiovascular disease management and perceived treatment credibility of the CRSP program. Practice implications: Explaining causal links may help improve patient education delivery and enhance patient engagement in CRSP.
Citation of this paper:
Zhang KM, Prior PL, Swartzman LC, Suskin N, Unsworth KL, Minda JP. Can causal explanations about endothelial pathophysiology benefit patient education? A cluster randomized controlled trial in cardiac rehabilitation. Patient Educ Couns. 2019 Sep;102(9):1672-1679. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2019.04.019. Epub 2019 Apr 18. PMID: 31031098.
