Does education degree affect the patient’s attitude towards the treatment after myocardial infarction?

Abstract

Objectives . To assess the association between education degree and attitude towards the treatment after myocardial infarction (MI). Design and Methods . The participants of this cross-sectional study were 191 (140 men and 51 women) outpatients in a period of 3 months – 5 years after acute MI (mean age 59 ± 9.2 years) from Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos. All patients were asked to complete two questionnaires: “Quality of Life and Treatment after Myocardial Infarction” and “Cholesterol-lowering Drugs Consumption Peculiarities”. The data was analyzed using the SPSS software. Results . The education degree (a higher (post-secondary education provided by a college or university) vs. a lower (secondary or vocational education) education degree) had similar influence on the patients’ occasional concern (43.2%; n = 35 vs. 52.9%; n = 55, respectively; p = 0.226) and on the frequent concern (25.9%; n =21 vs. 26.9%; n = 28, respectively; p = 0.226) about MI. Patients with a higher education degree were more likely to identify themselves as the main subjects in MI treatment in comparison with patients that had a lower education degree (30.5%; n = 25 vs. 15.2%; n = 16, respectively, p = 0.033). More educated patients found it easier to follow up the doctor’s treatment plan than less educated patients (23.2%; n = 19 vs. 9.5%; n = 10, respectively; p = 0.035). Conclusions . More educated patients are more likely to follow up the doctor’s treatment plan and see it easier than less educated patients. Thus, more attention should be paid to less educated patients in order to increase their own impact on their post-MI treatment.