This article was originally published as: Cardiac patients’ knowledge and use of sublingual glyceryl trinitrate (SLGTN)
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Abstract
Objective: This study examined cardiac patients’ knowledge and use of sublingual glyceryl trinitrate.
Design: A non‑experimental, retrospective descriptive design with a convenience sampling strategy was used.
Setting and Subjects: Participants were cardiac in‑patients who were prescribed sublingual glyceryl trinitrate (SLGTN) at thestudy hospital.
Main outcome measure(s): Participants’ knowledge and use of SLGTN was assessed using the Sublingual Nitroglycerin InterviewSchedule (SNIS) which is a valid and reliable tool.
Results: Fifty‑two in‑patients from a general cardiac ward or coronary care unit were approached. A total of 41 (87.2%) participants were enrolled and all completed the survey. Participants’ mean Knowledge score regarding SLGTN was 3.98 (SD=1.21), and the meanUse score was 3.68 (SD=1.12). Approximately one quarter of participants (24.4%) knew using SLGTN to prevent chest pain was an appropriate use for the drug. Males were significantly more likely to incorrectly transport their SLGTN than the females in the study(t=‑5.316, df = 21.8, p=<0.000).
Conclusions: Findings indicate that patients’ have limited knowledge of and do not always appropriately use SLGTN, particularly in terms of the way men transport the medication. Therefore there is a need to develop and implement educational strategies to facilitate greater self‑management of angina.
Authors
- Ming-I Fan
- Marion Mitchell
- Marie Cooke
Keywords
Sublingual glyceryl trinitrate, medication self-administration, knowledge, angina, chest pain
References
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