Impact of peer support education on health behavior and quality of life in patients with chronic atrophic gastritis

Abstract

BACKGROUND Chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) is a kind of life related disease. Its occurrence and development are obviously related to individuals' disease cognition level, mental state, and healthy behavior pattern. Peer support education is a mutual support system composed of individuals with the same background or experience, and its effect is worthy of affirmation in the management of chronic diseases. But there are few reports on the application of peer support education in CAG as well as the healthy behavior of CAG patients. AIM To investigate the effect of peer support education on health behavior and quality of life in patients with CAG. METHODS A total of 107 patients with CAG diagnosed from January 2017 to December 2017 were divided into an intervention group (55 cases) and a control group (52 cases). Both groups were given routine health education, including disease cognition, health behavior, and complication prevention. The intervention group was additionally given peer support education. The patients were followed for 6 mo, and health behavior, quality of life, and degree of satisfaction with health education were compared between the two groups. RESULTS The percentages of patients with reasonable diet, movement exercise, emotional control, and smoking and drinking quitting were significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (87.27% vs 71.15%, 89.09% vs 73.08%, 85.45% vs 69.23%, and 89.09% vs 71.15%, respectively; x2 = 4.252, 4.510, 4.044, and 5.4582, respectively; P < 0.05). Physiological function, general health, vitality, social function, emotional function, and mental health scores were significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (76.62 ± 8.21 vs 70.10 ± 8.32, 67.45 ± 7.26 vs 61.24 ± 7.32, 70.12 ± 8.23 vs 62.45 ± 7.41, 82.45 ± 8.36 vs 76.45 ± 8.45, 73.12 ± 8.42 vs 65.12 ± 7.56, and 72.65 ± 8.22 vs 64.78 ± 8.34, respectively; t = 4.079, 4.405, 5.056, 3.691, 5.161, and 4.915, respectively; P < 0.05). The degree of satisfaction with health was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (96.36% vs 84.62%, x2 = 4.354, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Peer support education is more likely to be accepted by patients with CAG, which is conducive to promoting the development of health behavior and improving quality of life.