Sek Ying Chair
Director and Professor, The Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine,The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong.
Title: The effect of motivational interviewing on outcomes of cardiac patients
Biography
Biography: Sek Ying Chair
Abstract
Motivational interviewing (MI), a well-recognized counselling skill, has been widely used in promoting behavioral changes. A randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the effects of MI on patient outcomes and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among cardiac patients. The control group (CG) received usual care of an 8-week cardiac rehabilitation (CR), including 16 sessions of 2-hour exercise and 6 sessions of 1-hour education. The intervention group (IG), on top of the usual care, received extra 10 sessions of MI (30-45 minutes/session) on building the motivation for change. Clinical outcomes (blood pressure, body mass index, and lipid profiles), depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and HRQoL (SF-36) were measured at baseline and 3-month after entering study. As result, 146 patients (73 per group) were recruited. There was no significant difference in clinical outcomes between groups after intervention (all p values > 0.05). Patients in the IG had more improvements in HRQoL, in the aspects of general health (p = 0.048) and role limitation due to emotional problems (p = 0.024). However, the IG group reported significantly higher increases in anxiety levels than those in CG (p = 0.030). In conclusion, MI contributed no significant effect on clinical outcomes and limited effect on HRQoL in cardiac patients at 3-month. With an already comprehensive and intensive CR program, it might be difficult to achieve extra clinical improvements. Given the increased anxiety levels in the IG, MI might become a burden to those who need to rush to work after CR.