Effect of an Educational Program for Patients after Retinal Detachment Surgery on their Performance and Postoperative Pain Management

Abstract

Background: Retinal detachment describes an emergency situation in which a thin layer \nof tissue (the retina) at the back of the eye pulls away from its normal position. Retinal \ndetachment separates the retinal cells from the layer of blood vessels that provides oxygen \nand nourishment. The longer retinal detachment left untreated, the greater the risk of \npermanent vision loss in the affected eye. Aim: The study aimed to evaluate the effect of \nan educational program for patients after retinal detachment surgery on their performance \nand postoperative pain management. Methods: The following hypotheses were formulated \nto achieve the study aim. H1: Performance of the study group will be improved post \nprogram implementation than the control group. H2: The study group will be able to \nmanage pain post program implementation than the control group. H3: There will be \nsignificant correlation between patients’ performance and pain management post program \nimplementation for the study group. A quasi-experimental research design was utilized to \nconduct the current study in the ophthalmology department at Benha University Hospital. \nA purposive sample of (100) adult patients post retinal detachment surgery were included \nin this study. Three tools were used, the patients’ knowledge assessment questionnaire, the \npatients’ practice observational checklist regarding eye care and visual pain analogue scale \nto assess pain severity. Results: This study shows that most patients had an unsatisfactory \nlevel of total knowledge and inadequate total practice regarding the postoperative pain \nmanagement after retinal detachment surgery pre-program implementation (68% and \n76%). This result improved significantly regarding all knowledge and practice elements \npost-program implementation, where the majority of the patients had a satisfactory level of \ntheir total knowledge and adequate total practice (78% and 75%). Conclusion: The \nmajority of the studied patients had an unsatisfactory performance level (knowledge and \npractice) concerning postoperative pain management after retinal detachment surgery pre\x02 \nprogram implementation. In contrast, most of the studied patients had statistically \nsignificant improvement in their performance post program implementation. Also, there \nwas a significant positive correlation between patients’ performance and pain management \npost program implementation that supports the research hypotheses. The study \nrecommended continuous in-service training programs and repeating the study on a high \nprobability sample to achieve generalization of the findings.