Development of a Care Model for Patients Undergoing Transthoracic Echocardiography at Kumphawapi Hospital, Udon Thani Province
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Abstract
This research and development study aimed to: (1) examine the existing care situation and identify problems; (2) develop a care model for the care of patients undergoing transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), and (3) evaluate the effectiveness of the developed model. The study was guided by the self-management concept and conducted in three phases. Phase 1 involved an assessment and analysis of the existing care system and related problems. Phase 2 involved the development of a nursing care model comprising appointment reminders and health education delivered through LINE Official Account (LINE OA), instructional videos on appropriate preparation and self-care, and positive feedback. The developed instruments were evaluated for content validity by three experts, yielding an S-CVI of 0.89, while the knowledge assessment demonstrated a reliability coefficient of 0.88. Phase 3 evaluated the effectiveness of the developed model using a quasi-experimental design. A total of 144 patients were allocated to a control group (n=72) and an intervention group (n=72). Data were analyzed using the independent t-test, chi-square test, and relative risk (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI).
The results revealed that: (1) problems in the existing care system included inadequate patient knowledge and understanding of examination preparation, anxiety, forgotten appointments, transportation barriers, and the lack of an effective appointment follow-up system; (2) the developed care model incorporated patient education, QR codes, LINE OA, instructional videos, positive feedback, and telephone calls to confirm appointments before the examination; and (3) following implementation, the intervention group had a significantly higher mean knowledge score than the control group (17.86 ± 1.42 vs. 12.03 ± 2.01, respectively; p < .001). The appointment attendance rate was higher in the intervention group than in the control group (93.1% vs. 76.4%, respectively), whereas the non-attendance rate was lower (6.9% vs. 23.6%, respectively; RR = 0.29, 95% CI: 0.11–0.75, p = .005). In addition, the intervention group had a significantly higher mean overall satisfaction score than the control group (4.68 ± 0.31 vs. 3.82 ± 0.47, respectively; p < .001).
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