A nursing intervention to increase compliance in otitis media patients.

This study was conducted to evaluate two forms of a clinical nursing intervention based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) and designed to increase compliance among 59 otitis media (OM) patients (14 adults and 45 children) visiting an emergency department (ED). Subjects (adult patients or caretakers of child patients) who received an HBM clinical intervention administered by a nurse in the ED, and HBM phone intervention 2 to 4 days after the ED visit, or both interventions were much more likely than control subjects to comply with a follow-up referral appointment. Both the clinical and phone interventions were designed to increase perceived susceptibility to complications of the OM, seriousness of the complications, and benefits and costs of action. Other factors predicting compliance included subjects' unmet needs for child care, perceived seriousness of the OM, and degree of knowledge of the etiology, pathophysiology, and management of OM.