Most Proposed Topic :
HA Young Investigators Session (projects to be presented by and HA staff who had joined HA for less than 15 years)
Proposed Topic (Second preferred): :
Enhancing Partnership with Patients and Community (Projects initiated to engage patient and improve patient communication)
Authors: (including presenting author): :
Ho MW, Wong CMY, Lau FCA
Affiliation: :
Occupational Therapy Department, Pok Oi Hospital
Introduction: :
Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), one of the leading causes of death worldwide, may lower their physical capacity, quality of life (QOL) and psychological health. Cardiac rehabilitation, occupational therapist (OT) as one of the multidisciplinary team members, offers holistic intervention to reduce patients’ mortality, morbidity, hospitalization, and improve their functional capacity, QOL and psychological health.
Objectives: :
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of relaxation management and lifestyle modification by OT in cardiac day rehabilitation program (CRPII) in perspective of physical capacity, psychological health and QOL.
Methodology: :
This retrospective study recruited 19 patients with CAD treated by percutaneous coronary intervention who had OT treatment in CRPII in Pok Oi Hospital from February to December, 2023 by convenience sampling. The intervention consisted of three to four 1.5-hour sessions of stress management, health Qigong training and lifestyle modification in a structured day rehabilitation programme. Pre- and post-tests were conducted to evaluate patient’s psychological health and QOL using Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 Items (DASS-21) and WHO-5 Well-Being Index (WHO-5), and physical activity capacity and intensity using specific activity scale (SAS), metabolic equivalent (MET) and self-reported weekly MET-minutes (MET-mins).
Result & Outcome: :
Among the 19 cases, there were 17 males and 2 females whose mean age was 63.26. DASS-21 showed patients with depression symptoms remained unchanged at 5.3%; patients with anxiety symptoms decreased from 15.8% to 0%; and patients with stress symptoms decreased from 10.5% to 5.3%. WHO-5 showed a statistically significant increase of mean from 16.53 to 19.53, indicating improved mental wellbeing (p=0.01). For SAS, there was a statistically significant improvement from 1.47 to 1.26 (p=0.04), showing improved functional capacity. Both patient’s physical activity capacity increased from 5.7 to 7.5 METS and likewise self-reported weekly MET-mins increased from 1160.9 to 1406.7 which showed statistically significant different (p< 0.01). Patients also reported self-initiated Qigong practice at home from none to 3 times per week in average as recommended by OT.
This OT relaxation management and lifestyle modification programme were shown to be effective in improving patient’s psychological health with decreased symptoms in anxiety and stress, improving QOL, physical activity level, and patient’s adoption of health Qigong as a regular relaxation and mind-body activity.
