Bernice Tan, DNP, MSN, MBA, RN, FNP-C

Abstract:

Background: Chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) is prevalent in the United States. The negative impact of CVI on patient quality of life (QoL) has been established, and compression stocking therapy (CST) has been used as a treatment modality. Even though compression therapy has been shown to help, poor adherence is often caused by a lack of knowledge. Best practices include patient education to increase knowledge of CVI, including prevention, symptoms, awareness of compression therapy, and appropriate lifestyle habits. Studies have shown that compression stocking education can help patients learn more about CVI and CST, which can help ease the symptoms of CVI and improve patient QoL. Objectives: This quality improvement project sought to determine whether an intervention including a compression stocking education brochure with in-person simulation affected QoL for patients with chronic venous insufficiency. Methods: A pre-and post-test design over five weeks was used. A convenience sample of 24 patients aged 18 years or older with CVI was recruited from a vascular surgery outpatient clinic. The CIVIQ-20-item questionnaire was used to assess participants' QoL, and a CST questionnaire was used to assess CST knowledge before and after the intervention. Results: Participants experienced improvement in their CIVIQ-20 score after the intervention (M = 54.00, SD = 14.24 pre-intervention, M = 40.50, SD = 10.39 post-intervention, Wilcoxon signed rank test p< .001). Lower CIVIQ-20 scores are more favorable. The perceived knowledge score increased after the intervention (M = 1.35, SD = .62 pre-intervention, M = 2.71, SD = .55 post-intervention, Wilcoxon signed rank p < .001). The actual knowledge scores improved after the intervention (M = 4.38, SD = 2.28 pre-intervention, M = 6.58, SD = .97 post-intervention, Wilcoxon signed rank p <.001). For the knowledge scores, higher scores are more favorable. Conclusion: The key findings of this study demonstrated a statistically significant increase in patients' QoL and CST knowledge following the implementation of a CST educational brochure and in-person simulation.

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