Knowledge and attitude on cardiac rehabilitation among patients admitted in Gauhati medical college and hospital (GMCH) with a view to develop an information booklet

Cardiac rehabilitation is a complex multidisciplinary intervention which comprises of personalised psychological support, management of cardiovascular risk factors, exercise and physical activity promotion tailored to the needs of each patient suffering from heart disease. Many research studies found that the patients have less knowledge regarding cardiac rehabilitation. Therefore, this study is conducted to assess the knowledge and attitude on cardiac rehabilitation among patients admitted in Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) with a view to develop an Information Booklet. Objectives: (1) To assess the level of knowledge on cardiac rehabilitation among patients admitted in GMCH. (2) To assess the attitude on cardiac rehabilitation among patients admitted in GMCH. (3) To find the association between knowledge on cardiac rehabilitation and selected socio- demographic variables. (4) To find the association between attitude on cardiac rehabilitation and selected socio- demographic variables. (5) To find out the correlation between knowledge and attitude on cardiac rehabilitation. (6) To develop and validate an information booklet on cardiac rehabilitation. Methodology: The quantitative research approach and descriptive survey design was adopted for the current study. The study was conducted on 125 patients admitted in cardiology and cardiothoracic areas of Cardiothoracic and Neuroscience Center, Gauhati Medical College and Hospital. The sample were selected by non-probability purposive sampling technique. A structured interview was used to assess the knowledge and attitude on cardiac rehabilitation from the patients. Result: It is found that majority of majority of the patients i.e., 97(77.6%) had moderately adequate knowledge, 18 (14.4%) had adequate knowledge and 10(8%) had inadequate knowledge regarding cardiac rehabilitation. The study also found that majority of the patients i.e., 101(80.8%) had moderately favorable attitude, 13 (10.4%) had favorable attitude and 11 (8.8) of the patients had unfavorable attitude towards cardiac rehabilitation, A significant association is found between knowledge with place of residence and previous history of any cardiovascular diseases. In case of attitude, a significant association is found with age. The correlation coefficient indicates moderate positive correlation (r=0.362) and is statistically significant (p=0.001). Conclusion: It can be concluded that majority of the patients had moderate adequate knowledge and moderately favorable attitude on cardiac rehabilitation. So, information booklet can help the patients to increase their awareness regarding cardiac rehabilitation.