ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the effect of peer education among discharged patients after mechanical heart valve replacement. Methods A total of 84 patients undergoing mechanical heart valve replacement in hospital from August to December 2016 were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups, 42 cases in each group. All of the patients received routine discharge guidance and outpatient follow-up after discharge from hospital, based on the same medical treatment, the experimental group were given peer education, and the intervention was provided from one month to six month after discharge, afterwards, anticoagulant knowledge, anticoagulant therapy compliance and complication rates were compared between the two groups discharged the same day, 1 months, 3 months, and 6 months after discharge. Results There was no significant difference in each of the evaluation index between the two groups discharged the same day (P>0.05). The anticoagulant knowledge and anticoagulant therapy compliance of the experimental group were higher than those of the control group at 1, 3, 6 months after the intervention (χ2=6.102, 7.378, 12.210, P<0.05 or 0.01), and the incidence of complications was lower than that of the control group at 6 months after the intervention (χ2=3.859, 5.765, 8.278, P<0.05 or 0.01). At 6 months after intervention, the incidence of complications in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group (χ2=5.486, P<0.05). Conclusion Peer education among discharged patients after mechanical heart valve replacement can improve their anticoagulant knowledge and anticoagulant therapy compliance, and reduce the incidence of complications caused by inappropriate anticoagulation.