The efficacy of inpatient education after myocardial infarction.

Nearly half a million Americans will survive an acute myocardial infarction (MI) this year. Nurses often question whether patients who have had an MI are able to absorb, retain, and use information given in the hospital. This review examines the research literature on inpatient education after MI published between 1975 and 1989 to determine (a) what information patients identify as most important, (b) whether inpatient education increases patients' knowledge, (c) whether anxiety prevents or diminishes learning in this setting, (d) whether inpatient education is able to produce lifestyle changes after discharge, and (e) which teaching methods are most effective. Patients identified risk factors as their primary concern. Most studies showed patients were able to learn new information, despite the presence of anxiety, particularly regarding activity after discharge. Inpatient education also stimulated some life-style change after discharge, most frequently in the areas of activity and smoking cessation. Several types of teaching methods were compared; audiovisual methods were found to be at least as effective as one-to-one patient teaching.