Background A therapeutic educational programme (TEP) ‘Vivre AVeK’ was organised in the cardiac rehabilitation service for patients treated with vitamin K antagonists (VKA). The programme consists of an initial evaluation, information and two evaluation workshops (board game and evaluation quiz).

Purpose To evaluate the skills acquired by patients who followed the programme.

Material and methods The TEP nurses collected the evaluation quizzes (17 questions) from January to March 2016. The TEP team pharmacist analysed the results.

Results Among the 95 patients treated with VKA, 94 benefited from an initial evaluation (99.9%). 5 patients refused to join the programme (5.3%). 75 of the 89 patients who accepted the programme participated in the workshops during the evaluated period. The pharmacist reviewed 53 quizzes. Patients had an average of 14 good answers out of 17 (from 6 to 17). 9 patients had 17 good answers (16.9%). They had good knowledge of the practical management of their treatment: the name of the examination that shows the treatment is effective quoted in 94.3% of cases, conduct if treatment forgotten (94.3%), which treatment to take if headache appears (96.2%) and INR target known (92.5%). Results concerning interpretation of the INR were not as satisfying: the consequences of a low INR were known by only 75.5% of patients and the consequences of a high INR by 79.2%. Likewise, questions about clinical aspects caused problems: 69.8% of patients could not quote all the signs evoking a bleeding. The ‘visible’ signs were well known: 86.8% of patients quoted nose bleeding and 75.5% blood in urine. On the contrary, the ‘non-visible’ signs were not well known: brutal headache 43.4% and unusual shortness of breath 28.3%.

Conclusion This evaluation allowed us to see that the programme had a high level of patient acceptance. Practical skills were acquired but clinical aspects were not properly understood. It led us to review our tools, by creating new ones that target the most complicated notions to acquire: it is made up of 27 cards that retrace clinical signs with photos and texts. The patient has to position them on a board according to INR intervals.

References and/or acknowledgements Acknowledgements to the TEP team.

No conflict of interest